#L1BIIARY O: ^'ONGRESS.# 
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JUNITKD STATES OF AMERICA. J 



AMUSEMENTS, 



AND THE NEED OP SUPPLYING 



HEALTHY RECREATIONS 



THE PEOPLE. 



BY 

GEORGE ^HUNTINGTON, M,A., 

RECTOR OF TENBY, 

AND DOMESTIC CHAPLAIN TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF 
CRAWFORD AND BALCARRES. 




OXFORD AND LONDON: 

JAMES PARKER & Co. 
TENBY: 
R. MASON, HIGH STREET. 

1868. 



"The people, of wTiom society is cMefly composed, and for whose good 
■all superiority of rank, indispensably necessary as it is in every govern- 
ment, is only a grant, made originally by mutual concession, is a respect- 
:able subject to every one who is the friend of man." — Brand's Observations 
on Popular Antiquities. 

" To make a poor, weary heart happy and contented for only a few hours 
is to lessen the evils of life ; — ^it is a rest in the desert, a spring throwing its 
^loosened silver' through the arid sand, at which they drink, and, taking 
heart, go on their way more cheerfully."— Miller's Picturesque Sketches 
>qf London. 

All work and no play makes Jack a dull \>oj.^^—Old ProverK 



ADVERTISEMENT. 



The substance of the following Lecture was de- 
livered before various audiences seven or eight 
years ago. The first impression of one thousand 
copies was soon disposed of, being circulated 
principally in the great towns of the North of 
England. It is an unspeakable satisfaction to the 
Author to know that the principles he has advo- 
cated are surely and steadily making their way. 
Many persons who conscientiously opposed amuse- 
ments on religious grounds are now happily fore- 
most in promoting them. Everything, too, shows 
that, on the eve of acquiring enlarged political 
privileges, the working classes are preparing them- 
selves for the due discharge of that important 
trust. 



TO 

THOSE LOYAL AND INTELLIGENT WORKING MEN 

WHO 

BY THEIR ENERGY AND PERSEVERANCE 
HAVE SECURED FOR THEMSELVES 
A JUST INFLUENCE 
IN 

THE GOVERNMENT OF THEIR COUNTRY, 
AND 

WHO USE THEIR PRIVILEGES 
FOR 

THE MAINTENANCE OF RELIGION, LAW AND ORDER, 

THIS WORK IS INSCRIBED, 
BY 

ONE WHO HAS LABOURED AMONGST THEM 
FOR 
TWENTY YEARS. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

Grrowing Interest in the Amusements of the People a healthy Sign of 

the Times 9 

Eecreations a Necessary of Life, proved from the Constitution of the 

Human Frame and Practical Experience 10 

Mental Excitement worse than Bodily Eatigue — Testimony of the 

Author of Ecclesiasticus and of Shakspeare 11 

Mischief of exclusive devotion to One Pursuit — Contrast between the 
examples of Sir Isaac Newton, Dr. Buckland and Hugh Miller— 
Value of Bodily Exercise — ^Need of proper alternations of "Work 
and Study — Good effects of College Sports — ^Difference between 
English and American Students — Example of H.R.H. the Prince 

of mies 12-15 

Value of Saturday Afternoon Half-Holidays — ^Working Men's Colleges 

in Manchester — ^Eecreations should contrast with Occupations 15-17 

Value of Old English Sports — Testimony of Shakspeare 18 

Refining Influence of Chivalrous Peelings — Lord Eglinton's Tourna- 
ment a Eailure — ^No need to revive Barbarous Sports 19 

A pity for Old Customs to die out 20 

Neglect of Church Holidays a loss — Opinions of Dr. Southey and 

Oliver Goldsmith 21 

Revival of Parish Festivals a boon — A Model Parish on the "Welsh 

Border — Christmas Festivities 22, 3 

Christmas before and during the Great Rebellion 24 

Danger of working at too high pressure 25 

Early Closing— Parks and Playgrounds 26 

Evils of Separation of Classes , 27 



A 



VI CONTENTS. 

Holiday keeping a sign of Loyalty — Witness of Fouche, the French 

Minister of Police 28 

Fairs : their Uses and Abuses — Dedication Feasts 29 

Odd Fellows* and Foresters' Processions — Cricket 30 

Horse-Eacing no real Pleasure — Opinion of the Kev. J. Erskine Clarke 

— Steeple-Chasing 31, 2 

Cheap Trips : their Benefits 33 

Good done by Gardening— Examples at "Wigan, and in the East 

Riding of Yorkshire 34 

Pleasure of Cultivating Flowers 35 

Adornment of Churches and Graves with Flowers — ^Example of a 
Lancashire Village and of Her Majesty the Queen — Poetry and 

Symbolism distasteful to some 36, 7 

Whatever makes Home happy is a Blessing to the Working Man — 

Domestic Comfort is in the Wife's hands 38-40 

Novels : their Uses and Abuses — Works of Sir W. Scott and C. Dickens 

recommended 40 

Music and Games — ^Draughts, Chess and Backgammon — Cards not a fit 

Amusement for Working Men 41 

Theatres : their Uses and Abuses 42, 3 

Penny Theatres 44 

Reformation of the Theatre — Opinions of the Rev. J. Erskine Clarke 

and of Mr. Goodwin — Theatres represent the Tastes of the Age .... 45-7 
Dancing Saloons productive of much Evil, though Dancing itself not 
Wrong — ^Dancing at Sunday School Treats — Examples at Bir- 
mingham and in America 49, 50 

Cheap Concerts : their Benefits — Refining Inflence of Music — Messrs. 
Jullien and Charles Halle's Concerts — Oratorios at Edinburgh and 
Manchester — Musical Entertainments advocated by Dr. Guthrie 
and Dr. Hook — Dr. Johnson's Opinion on Ballads — Concert Halls 

and Music Halls not to be confounded 51, 2 

Penny Readings popular and useful if well selected — Lectures useful if 

not too dry — Reading Rooms and Libraries — Working Men's Clubs '52-5 
Congregational and School Tea Parties pleasant, if not made tedious by 

Speechifying 55-7 



AMUSEMENTS, 

AND 

THE NEED OF SUPPLYING HEALTHY 
RECREATIONS FOR THE PEOPLE. 



The question of amusements, and of the 
need of supplying healthy recreations for 
the people, has occupied the thoughts of 
earnest men at various times, and has gained 
additional importance owing to the increas- 
ing attention now happily paid to the social 
condition of the working classes.^ 

In speaking on the subject, I do not pre- 
sume to dictate to others, or to attempt to 
force my own views on any one. I alone 
am responsible for the opinions which I deem 
it right to propound ; and whilst I shall state 
what I think and believe, boldly and with- 
out hesitation, I am desirous to respect the 
honest convictions of those who differ from 
me. What value my paper may have, if 
value it possesses at all, will be derived from 
1 Note A. 

B 



10 



Recreations a Necessary of Life. 



my own personal intercourse with those 
whose wants I am considering. Some per- 
sons will, perhaps, think that I allow too 
much latitude; others may consider me some- 
what strait-laced. But all will give me 
credit, I trust, for a sincere desire to see the 
subject fairly ventilated by those who are 
most interested in it, and to gain hints as to 
their feelings and convictions, even if the 
result should be a modification of my own 
foregone conclusions. 

I start, then, with a truth on which — how- 
ever we may diflfer as to the character of the 
relaxations — all persons are agreed, that we 
must have recreations, and that they are a 
necessary of life. Every medical man will 
tell us, and our own experience will convince 
us, that the wear and tear of life are such, 
that temporary and regular rest from labour 
is absolutely necessary, if we are to possess 
the mens saiia in corpore sano, — the sound 
mind in the sound body." It has pleased 
the Creator so to fit and adapt our physical 
frames, that they will only bear a certain 
amount of pressure. Now, of our entire 
organization, the brain is by far the most 
delicate part, the most finely toned, and 
consequently the most sensitive. Such, in- 
deed, is the peculiar nature of the brain, 
acted on by the mind on the one hand, and 



Mental Excitement worse than Bodily Fatigue, 11 

by the body on the other, that it can never 
properly exercise its functions if either mind 
or body is out of order. Hence we soon get 
over bodily fatigue, whilst it takes much 
longer to recover from mental excitement. 
Thus the wise man says, The sleep of a 
labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little 
or much ; but the abundance of the rich will 
not suffer him to sleep."^ The labouring 
man, wearied out with his toil, and sure of 
his wages at the week's end, no sooner lays 
his head on the pillow, than his heavy breath- 
ing or hard snoring proclaims him to be fast 
asleep. On the other hand, the habits in- 
duced by wealth drive away ''tired nature's 
sweet restorer, balmy sleep," and the rich 
man's feverish tossings on his bed of down 
show that, even if his body is recumbent, his 
mind is not at rest. As the author of the 
Book of Ecclesiasticus observes, " Watching 
for riches consumeth the flesh, and the care 
thereof driveth away sleep. Watching care 
driveth away slumber, as a sore disease 
breaketh sleep or, as Shakspeare ex- 
presses the same idea, " Where care lodges 
sleep will never lie.'' Again, the evils arising 
from burning the midnight oil do not lie in 
the actual number of hours spent in study, 

2 Ecclesiastes, v. 12, 
^ EcclesiasticuS; xxxi. 1, 2, 



12 Mischief of Devotion to One Pur suit. 



so much as in the over-excitement, exhaus- 
tion and sleeplessness which follow as a 
natural consequence.* 

Next to over work must be placed exclu- 
sive devotion to one pursuit. This has pro- 
duced the most lamentable results. What, 
indeed, is a monomaniac but one who, from 
letting his thoughts flow solely in one channel, 
has at length lost the power of abstracting 
them ? This danger is increased when the 
current of thought lies in the direction of ab- 
stract speculation, deep scientific researches, 
or anything which over excites the reasoning 
or imaginative faculties. The reason of the 
astronomer has at times been overthrown by 
undue pressure on the brain, caused by cal- 
culating the number and distances of the 
heavenly bodies. The mind of the geologist 
has given way in consequence of his specula- 
tions on the earth's strata, and the fathom- 
less ages in which they have been supposed 
to be produced. One prevailing grief has 
produced the same results. Early and unre- 
mitting cultivation of music has been attended 
with like consequences. Three examples will 
illustrate what I mean, — Sir Isaac Newton, 
Dr. Buckland, and the late Hugh Miller. 
Sir Isaac Newton, so far from not allowing 
himself any relaxation from his abstruse 
^ Note B» 



Value of Bodily Exercise. 



13 



studies, unbended so far as to jump over the 
chairs in his study, and even to play with a 
kitten, and he lived to the ripe age of nearly 
ninety. Dr. Buckland and Hugh Miller, on 
the other hand, suffered the terrible conse- 
quences of their own imprudence. The 
learned Dean, from exclusively devoting him- 
self to the abstruse science of geology, be- 
came a monomaniac, and fancied himself a 
fossil. Hugh Miller, alas! put an end to his 
own existence.^ 

So much then for over occupation, and the 
exclusive devotion of the mind to one pursuit. 
The next question arises, what kind of relaxa- 
tion should the mind have ? I reply, that 
which presents the greatest contrast to the 
ordinary occupation. It seems a paradox to 
say that mathematics could ever be a relaxa- 
tion ; but it is quite certain that they might, 
much in the same way that chess is. Mathe- 
matics bring a healthy tone to the imagina- 
tive faculties too much absorbed in music, or 
painting, or poetry. 

To those, however, who are engaged in 
intellectual occupations, bodily exercise is 
" the one thing needful." The first Napo- 
leon is said to have attributed the loss of a 
battle to a fit of indigestion ; and no one who 
has ever sat down to compose a sermon, or 
5 Note C. 



14 Work when you Work, Play when you Play. 

an article for a review, or to straighten a 
crooked account, but can tell, to his cost, the 
amount of time 'wasted in endeavouring to 
overcome a headache. Sheet after sheet is 
begun and thrown away, like Beau Brum- 
mel's ill-fitting cravats; column after column 
of figures becomes more and more involved, 
till you are lost at length in a very labyrinth 
of hopeless confusion. 

Oh ! how far better would it be to give the 
thing up at once, and return to work with the 
head cleared, and the nerves braced, by a 
good up-hill walk. But this is one of the 
evils of having to write against time, that the 
inevitable Sunday approaches, or the hour 
when your article must go to press. The 
only remedy that I know of is to take time 
by the forelock. To every young student I 
would say, " work when you work^ and play 
when you play.'' Have your proper alterna- 
tions of study and exercise, and be thoroughly 
in earnest over both. This is a great secret 
of success, and will explain the surprise which 
one often feels on looking over the prize lists 
at the Universities, to find the captain of a 
college boat a senior wrangler, and the man 
best known for athletic sports a first-class 
man. But so it is ; with good bodily health 
and mental vigour, we can do far more in 
three or four hours than in a worse sanitary 



Benefits of College Sports, 15 

state we can effect in double the time. The 
mind gets only a confused notion of many- 
things, and knows no one thing clearly ; the 
brain becomes a sort of intellectual hotch- 
potch. When the apparently well instructed 
scribe has to " bring out of his treasures 
things new and old," he has nothing forth- 
coming; for the retina of his mind, instead of 
receiving clear impressions, reflects back a 
confusion of colours, without any one distinct 
pattern, like a Turkey carpet. People who 
have never had the privilege of college life 
may abuse the ancient universities just as 
much as they please; but it is the honourable 
independence and self discipline encouraged 
there which constitutes their great value, and 
which makes our English universities what 
they are, and which, according to Mons. Mon- 
talembert, causes the education given therein 
to be so diff'erent from the Bastile system of 
the French seminaries. It is said that there 
is a statute at Cambridge, still extant, for- 
bidding persons in statu pupillari to play at 
marbles on the pavement, which may be ex- 
plained by the fact that students formerly 
entered college as mere boys. But whatever 
regulations our new lights may introduce, I 
hope that they will never discourage athletic 
sports. I am glad that the Prince of Wales 
joined both the boating and cricket clubs 



-I 



r 



16 Body and Mind should have Fail' Play. 

when at Oxford. An American student, who 
has written on the subject, bears witness to 
the superiority in these respects of our English 
universities. The sallow-faced, bilious-look- 
ing Yankee, who had been grinding away 
under the professors of his transantlantic col- 
lege, was amazed at the robust forms and 
active minds of the Cantabs ; and he attri- 
buted the contrast to the exercise taken, and 
to the system pursued at Cambridge of teach- 
ing thoroughly whatever is learned there. 
When a man tries to do too much, he is like 
a guest who eats of all the dishes, and drinks 
of all the wines, at a modern dinner party. 
The brain, like the stomach, unable to digest, 
rejects the crude mass presented to it. 

When I congratulate you, my working 
friends, on your Saturday afternoon half- 
holiday, it is really not so much that you 
may sit over your books, as that you may 
have a chance of enjoying fresh air and 
exercise. Of course I am a friend of night 
schools and working men's colleges, and I 
would encourage every young man to take 
as his motto, " excelsior ^ excelsior;' but, at 
the same time, let the body as well as the 
mind have fair play. 

A few years ago, I was at a meeting of the 
working men's colleges in Manchester. It 
so happened that, where I sat, I could not 



Recreations should contrast with Occupations. 17 

hear the speeches, so I busied myself with 
watching the physiognomies of the young 
men about me. No doubt I might be preju- 
diced, as every man may be who has got a 
crotchet in his head on which he feels very 
strongly;^ but it seemed to me that the 
beetled and prominent brow, and pale face, 
only too plainly indicated the tension and 
over excitement of the brain within. I longed 
to see these youths kicking a foot-ball, or 
playing at quoits, or at hockey, or at any 
game which should give healthy and refresh- 
ing change to the confinement of the loom, 
the workshop, and the foundry. 

In reply, then, to the question, what kind 
of relaxation should the mind have ? I answer, 
that which presents the greatest possible con- 
trast to the ordinary occupation ; and this is 
true of the body as well. Yet how sadly has 
this been forgotten ! If I hear a cornet-a- 
piston, or a German flute, or a fiddle, the 
sounds are sure to proceed from a shoemaker's 
stall, or a tailor's board, or a painter's shop, 
or from the abode of some worthy fellow en- 
gaged in sedentary occupation, who has had 
too much sitting already, too much breathing 
of a vitiated atmosphere ; and who, instead of 
courting Apollo, ought to be stretching his 
legs, developing his muscles, and expanding 
6 Note U. 



18 Value of Old English Sports. 

his chest, by walking, leaping, throwing bars, 
or by any of those sports which, with our 
modern fancy for Greek names, we call gym- 
nastics. As the victim of a bilious liver is 
sure to be swallowing puff-paste whenever it 
comes in his way, so the man engaged in 
sedentary occupations neglects nature's wise 
rules, and chooses sedentary amusements. 

Join Working Men's Colleges, Mechanics' 
Institutions, Christian Young Men's Associa- 
tions, Church Institutes, if you please, ye 
young men; but as you value your bodily 
health, that 

" Chiefest good 
Bestowed by Heaven, but seldom understood," 

do not pursue any branch of knowledge to 
the exclusion of active bodily exercise.^ Re- 
member what Shakspeare says : — 

" We are not ourselves 
When nature, being oppressed, commands the mind 
To suffer with the body." 

Assuming, then, that the kind of amusement 
should be such as to present the greatest 
possible contrast to the ordinary occupation, 
whether of mind or body, let me come a little 
closer to particulars. 

But, before doing so, let me say a few 
words about our old English sports. Now I 
do very much regret that so many of these 
7 Note E. 



Refining Influence of Chivalrous Feelings. 19 

are things of the past. I do not mean exactly 
that our knights and nobles, clad in chain 
armour, should be tilting at each other with 
long lances, although I think that they might 
amuse themselves in worse ways. Lord Eg- 
linton's tournament was, pretty generally, 
considered a failure ; at least we may con- 
clude so, since no other nobleman has ven- 
tured to try the experiment. Still less would 
I revive the barbarous practices of bull-bait- 
ing, bear-baiting, and cock-fighting.^ But 
why should we not have archery meetings, 
as in days of yore ? or some less dangerous 
pageant than the old tournament, when all 
ranks might compete for the prize on equal 
terms, and receive the reward of skill and 
valour, from the hands of a duly-elected 
Queen of Beauty ? I am old-fashioned 
enough to believe that this ancient chivalrous 
feeling has a beneficial influence in refining 
the morals and the manners of young men. 
I do not envy the youth in whose eyes a prize 
would not shine with additional lustre when 
thus presented and received. I think that it 
is woman's legitimate province to win and 
woo to a noble emulation, whether in manly 
games, as she always has done from the days 
of the old Greeks downwards, or in the great 
race of life. I can well believe that as our 
8 Note F. 



20 



A pity fo7' Old Customs to die out. 



Guards marched before the eyes of the Queen 
and the ladies of the Court, on their wav to 
the deadly Crimean warfare, their breasts 
filled with renewed resolution to conquer or 
die, in consequence of such fair and queenly 
witness. I am very sure that, as with the old 
badge of the Garter, so with the Victoria 
Cross, the value is derived from the donor ; 
and I would much rather trust the defence of 
our altars and hearths to the strong arm and 
unerring aim of the young rifleman, whose 
heart, like the knight of old, is in some fair 
one's keeping, than to the cosmopolite, to 
whom all places and persons are alike, and 
who would as soon manufacture powder and 
arms for foes as for friends, if he could get a 
higher price for the articles. 

But, to return, I am not so utilitarian as to 
wish old customs to die out. It surely is very 
pleasing to find relics of our national pageants 
lingering here and there, sheltered by local 
traditions ; sometimes startling one by their 
appearance amid the din and bustle of a large 
manufacturing town, — colours flying amid 
smoke and fog, and music blending with the 
clang of the steam hammer, and the whirr of 
the steam engine ; at other times turning up 
unexpectedly in some quiet village still un- 
attainable by railways, and un visited by cheap 
trips. I heartily wish that the good custom 



Neglect of Church Holidays a Loss. 21 



of ''beating the bounds" was still kept up, in 
which Richard Hooker took such delight, "in 
which perambulation," as his biographer 
relates, " he would usually express more 
pleasant discourse than at other times, and 
would then always drop some loving and 
facetious observations, to be remembered 
against the next year, especially by the boys 
and young people." I think that the neglect 
of the few Church holidays still prescribed 
by the Prayer-book has entailed a great loss 
on all classes, and I am of Southey's opinion, 
" that festivals, when duly observed, attach 
men to the civil and religious institutions of 
the country, and that it is an evil omen when 
they fall into disuse." 

Surely the dull monotony of rural life 
would find some relief from following good 
neighbour Flamborough's example, as de- 
scribed by " Goldie," in the Vicar of Wake- 
field: — " They wrought with cheerfulness on 
days of labour, but observed festivals as in- 
tervals of idleness and pleasure. They kept 
up the Christmas Carol, sent true love knots 
on Valentine morning, eat pancakes on 
Shrove-tide, showed their wit on the first 
of April, and religiously cracked nuts on 
Michaelmas-eve." 

Few and far between as are the pleasures 
of " fortunatus agricola," who would wish to 



r 



22 Revival of Parish Festivals. 

deprive him of his harvest home and harvest 
supper ? — that one time in all the year when 
the landowner and his labourers meet at one 
common board to commemorate the in-gather- 
ing of the fruits of the earth ; when, as the 
poet Thompson beautifully observes, 

" Thus they rejoice ; nor think 
That with to-morrow's sun, their annual toil 
Begins again the never-ceasing round." 

It is a very hopeful sign that these Festivals^ 
are now observed with a more religious cha- 
racter. In many places a holiday is given 
on the occasion, and the day's proceedings 
are sanctified " by the Word of God and by 
prayer" in the parish church. The presence 
of the vicar and squire at the harvest supper 
at night, after having previously knelt to- 
gether at the early Communion in the morn- 
ing affords the strongest security against the 
drunkenness which, in times past, too often 
disgraced these gatherings. 

1 had the pleasure of attending such a 
festival in a model parish on the borders of 
Wales. The festivities of the day were 
ushered in by an early celebration of the 
Holy Communion, to be followed by a later 
choral service performed most creditably by 
a choir of men and boys, most of whom were 
engaged on the neighl3ouring farms. Every 

9 Note G. 



J 



Christmas Festivities. 



23 



house in the village was closed, and every 
inmate, with the exception of the beer-house 
keeper, was at church. It would have done 
any one's heart good to see the enthusiastic 
way with which the villagers joined in the 
now well-known hymn, " Brightly gleams 
our banner," as the procession, headed by a 
chorister carrying a flag, passed on to the 
church-yard. Games of all kinds followed, 
and the happy day closed with a brilliant 
display of fire-works, as the newspapers 
would have described it. 

No one will be surprised to hear that this 
good, and active, and judicious clergyman 
has filled his church, and emptied the public- 
house. No one will be surprised to hear 
that he has but one enemy in the world, and 
he the beer-house keeper. 

As for Christmas Festivities, those who 
please may ridicule them ; but, to my think- 
ing, the wiser plan is to observe all good old 
customs, and to give up only such as are 
" more honoured in the breach than the ob- 
servance." I do not envy the sleepy-headed 
churl who could not keep awake to hear the 
Waits on Christmas-eve,— the sweet cadences 
rising and falling in the clear frosty air, — now 
blending with our dreams and suggesting 
thoughts of Heaven, — now awakening us to 
the consciousness of the return of that joyous 



24 Christmas before and during the MebelUon. 



night when the first carol was sung, " Glory 
to God in the highest, and on earth peace, 
good will toward men," — now fading into 
the distance, as we might imagine the depar- 
ture of the heavenly hosts. 

" I come from Hevin to tell 
The best nowellis that ever befell ; 
To you this tythings trew I bring, 
And I will of them say and sing. 

" This day to you is borne ane child 
Of Marie meike and Virgine mylde, 
That blessit Barne, bining and kynde, 
Sail yow rejoice baith heart and mind." 

I only ask you to look on these two pic- 
tures, and to choose which you like best : 
This, — 

" England was merry England when 
Old Christmas brought his sports again. 
'Twas Christmas broached the mightiest ale, 
'Twas Christmas told the merriest tale. 
A Christmas gambol oft would cheer 
The poor man's heart through half the year." 

Or this, written during the great rebel- 
lion, — 

" All plums the Prophet's sons defy, 
And spice broths are too hot ; 
Treason's in a December pye, 
And death within the pot. 
" Christmas, farewell ! thy days I fear, 
And merry days are done ; 
So they may keep feasts all the year, 
Our Saviour shall have none. 
" Gone are those golden days of yore, 
When Christmas was a high day, 
Whose sports we now shall see no more ; 
'Tis turned into Good Friday." 



Need of the Safety-Valve of Repose. 25 

Let us keep up what good customs we 
have, and revive those which are defunct, if 
not in the letter, yet in the spirit. If towns- 
men have less need of variety than country 
folk, they have more need of repose. If the 
countryman is in danger of rusting out, the 
town resident may wear out too soon. It is 
very possible that we may be living too fast 
now-a-days. The intellects of many of us 
are so continually on the stretch, owing to the 
sharpness necessary to enable one man to 
compete with another ; and we are kept in 
such a state of excitement, from what the 
Yankees call the ''go-ahead'' habits of the 
times, that we resemble high-pressure steam 
engines, always at full working power. We 
want the safety-valve of repose to let off the 
steam of our over-wrought energies ; and for 
lack of this we are in danger of coming to a 
stand-still, either by the sudden paralysing 
of our faculties, or by the actual wear and 
tear of mind and body. Just as our citizens 
became victims of what was then so ex- 
pressively called " The Enemy," (I mean 
the gout,) at or about the time when the in- 
creased number of buildings in towns filled 
up the old tilting yards and shooting grounds, 
so possibly, over-excitement may be a proxi- 
mate cause of those fatal heart complaints 



26 Early Closing: Playgrounds: Parks. 



now admitted to be so much on the in- 
crease/ 

For these reasons I congratulate you on 
the success that has attended the Early 
Closing Movement. I rejoice at anything, 
not " positively wrong, which brings relief to 
the work ! work ! work ! " — the sweat of the 
brain rather than of the brow — to which so 
many are destined. But let us supplement 
this admirable movement, by endeavouring 
to supply you with some profitable means of 
spending your leisure time. A proud and 
happy day indeed will it be for England, when 
every city and town has its Playground and 
Public Park, and every village its Common 
Green, in which " young men and maidens, 
old men and children," may snuff in the 
fresh breezes of heaven, bestowed by the 
Creator on rich and poor alike, and enjoy 
healthy and invigorating exercise.^ 

Parks supported by public funds have 
been opened in the east and north of London, 
in various parts of Manchester, in Salford, 
Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds, Bradford and 
Halifax ; in Hull through the benevolence 
of a merchant, and in Chester through the 
munificence of the Marquis of Westminster. 
The more crowded and smoky the towns, the 
1 Note H. 2 Note I. 



Evils of Separation of Classes. 



27 



greater is the need of these lu?igs,'' as they 
are not inappropriately called. 

Of course, as nothing human is perfect, 
these privileges may be abused ; but I venture 
to say that the evil lies very much in the 
separation of classes. Few working men 
would swear, or use bad language, before a 
lady or a gentleman ; and if the authorities 
were vigorously supported in keeping order, 
or better still, if public opinion and public 
example were brought to bear on the subject, 
these bad habits would soon be things of the 
past, banished to the days when parsons might 
be seen at cock-pits, and gentlemen thought 
it a sign of hospitality, to send their guests 
home in a state which I do not choose to 
describe. I do not think it fair to lay all the 
blame on one class in society ; let the shoe 
pinch where it is worn. As Brand observes in 
his well known Popular Antiquities, " were 
we to reprobate everything that has been 
abused, religion itself could not be retained ; 
perhaps, indeed, we should be able to keep 
nothing." 

" Our forefathers were a holiday-loving 
people," says a recent writer. With what 
delight they set out to bring home May, 
Herrick has told us in undying verse. ''They 
hung a green bough on every door, and sus- 
pended from window to window, in the centre 



28 



Soliday keeping a Sign of Loyalty. 



of the streets, endless garlands of flowers. 
The dance under the May-pole was surely 
preferable to reeling out of a gin-shop ; and 
the archers practising in the cool of a sum- 
mer evening, under the trees in the Moor- 
fields, much better than a skittle-ground 
reeking with tobacco, gin and beer." 

It is related of Fouche, the French minister, 
that when he wished to ascertain how the 
populace were affected toward the govern- 
ment, he took notice whether or no music 
and dancing were going on in the open air. 
When this was so, he knew that there was no 
dissatisfaction. But when, instead of ''trip- 
ping it on the light fantastic toe," the people 
were gathered in excited crowds round some 
republican orator, or sitting in sullen groups 
within doors, reading the political pamphlets 
of the day, he knew that the volcano was 
ready to burst. 

One other relic of our ancient customs I 
must mention — our Fair Days. These fairs 
had, as you are aware, a religious origin, and 
were generally kept on the days on which 
the churches were dedicated. By common 
consent, they are observed as holidays in the 
neighbourhoods where they are held, and in 
many country places they form the only 
period in the year (save perhaps Christmas) 
when children and friends can meet together 



Fairs : their Uses and Abuses. 



29 



at their common homes. Many a happy 
school-boy and school-girl — many a weary 
apprentice and journeyman — looks forward 
to the fair day as a red letter day indeed. 
The evil is that these fair days have been 
abused by dissipation and drunkenness ; that 
young people have often to trace their ruin 
to the indiscriminate meetings permitted on 
such occasions. As I shall have to speak on 
kindred subjects afterwards, I will only say 
that the remedy is very much in the hands 
of masters and mistresses, and parents and 
heads of families. They might prevent much 
of the evil I am deploring, by accompanying 
their children and dependents themselves, 
by keeping their eye upon them, and by 
refusing to let them go, except under such 
circumstances. 

An effort is now being made in many 
quarters to revive the anniversaries in ques- 
tion, without these abuses. Many a dedica- 
tion feast is now ushered in with peals from 
the old church tower, with early communion, 
and processions of clergy, choristers and 
schools, with choral services and joyful festi- 
vities, races and games out of doors, plum 
pudding and roast beef within. I entirely 
sympathize with all these movements ; at the 
same time I cannot help wishing that the 
clergy would not reprobate the old fairs, but 



30 Old English spirit of Sight-seeing not Extinct. 

try to take them in hand, and influence the 
people to use them rightly.^ Depend upon 
it the old English spirit of sight-seeing is not 
extinct ; we may not now appreciate exactly 
the same grotesque spectacles and shows, at 
which our forefathers laughed, or dress our- 
selves in ''doublet and trunk hose," or in 
the turned-up shoes of the Plantagenets, but 
sights we must see, and sports we must have, 
or ''all work and no play will soon make 
Jack (John Bull) a dull boy." 

Our Odd Fellows' and Foresters' proces- 
sions are a case in point ; so is the determi- 
nation of the Londoners not to be cheated 
out of their Lord Mayor's show ; — all these 
things prove what I say, that in spite of this 
utilitarian age. Englishmen love sight-seeing 
after all. 

Right glad I am that Cricket is now so 
much more in fashion. This is pre-eminently 
a national sport, one which we have inherited 
from our Saxon forefathers. 

I confess that I was delighted when, on a 
recent occasion, our Eleven renowned cham- 
pions earned their laurels across the Atlantic, 
by beating twice their own number of Ameri- 
cans. Every one who wishes well to young 
men should encourage cricket clubs. 

But what shall we say to Horse-Racing, 
3 Note K. 



Evils attending Horse- It acing, 31 



another national sport ? If this pursuit only 
involved the careful breeding and training of 
horses, and their competing for a prize, no 
one could condemn it. But so far is this 
from being the case, that these objects are 
only secondary. The attractions are the 
betting and gambling ; and the abuses are 
these, and the bad company and drunken- 
ness which abound. 

On this subject I must ask your permission 
to read a few remarks from a little work, 
entitled. Plain Papers on the Social Economy 
of the People. No. I. Recreations of the 
People, Real and Imaginary^ by the Rev. 
J. Erskine Clarke, M.A. 

" Its most vigorous supporters are crying 
out that you must 'reform the turf,' but it is 
so hopelessly rotten, that you might as well 
talk of reforming a cancer ; while, even in a 
state of reformation, it would be but a poor 
recreation for the people, since the spectacle, 
the thing seen, is the smallest possible in 
amount, and the least elevating in character. 
What do the majority of the people see of the 
race itself? They are wedged, and crushed, 
and jammed together along the sides of the 
course. They can only see the small patch 
of dusty grass in front of them, with the un- 
happy dog that will alway run across it. 
They see the eager faces that line the other 



32 



No Meal Pleasure at the Races. 



side of the course. After long delay there is 
a buzz, and the cry along the ropes, ' Now 
they're off!'— 'Wait a bit!'— 'Now they 
come ! ' You hear the patter of their hoofs 
along the turf — you see a cloud of coloured 
jackets, and of arms and whips in active 
exercise, coming up — in a second they are 
abreast of the representative of the people, 
they flash past, and leave only a cloud of 
dust behind. They are followed by the shouts 
of the mob, whose excited feelings find vent 
in such phrases as ' Blue has it!' — 'No, he 
hasn't!'— 'Yellow has it !'— 'Go it, yellow!' 
— ' It's all your own ! ' — mixed with impre- 
cations and expletives unfit for ears polite. 
Perhaps the race is twice round the course, 
and so, after a few minutes, the same scene is 
repeated, and the horses whipped — ('flailed' 
is the technical and expressive phrase of BelVs 
Life) — whipped, flailed, spurred, and bleed- 
ing, pass the winning-post with the fleetness 
of an arrow. In a moment the decision of 
the judge is given, and the numbers, one, 
two, three, go up on the telegraph, and the 
race is over. There is not much in this to 
refresh a wearied worker." 

On the kindred sports of Fox- Hunting 
and Steeple-Chasing I need say nothing, 
because they are not the amusements of the 
people. Few of us could afford to keep a 



Benefits of Cheap Trips. 33 



hunter, and I suspect that a townsman 
would not cut a much better figure on horse- 
back, than John Gilpin of immortal memory, 
or the veritable tailor riding to Brentford. I 
do not wish to resuscitate the fox-hunting 
parson ; but I do hope that our country 
gentlemen will not (I do not much fear they 
will) give up that manly and healthy sport. 

And now a word as to Cheap Trips, 
These are pre-eminently for the people. They 
are of great use in enlarging the mind, and 
in doing away with local prejudices by 
enabling people to see more of the great 
world. By means of cheap trips, many a 
working man and his family have been 
enabled to gaze on noble minsters, such as 
York and Lincoln, or to become acquainted 
with our matchless lake scenery, or to behold 
the eternal ocean. 

To these excursions, the rule I first laid 
down applies. They should be arranged so 
as to present the greatest contrast to the 
ordinary associations. Country-people should 
be taken to see towns — towns-people should 
be taken to see the country, or to the sea- 
side. The destinations should not be so far 
off as to make a toil of the pleasure, and they 
should be literally cheap trips, or they might 
involve expenses the working man can ill 
aflford. 



34 



Good done hy Gardening. 



Gardening is the last out-door recreation 
of which I shall speak. I can only say that, 
from my own observation, few things have 
done more good than the plan of allotting 
small portions of ground to working men, 
to be cultivated by them in their leisure 
hours. I once heard it objected by a churlish 
farmer, that if you give your labourers a 
piece of ground to till on their own account, 
they would reserve their energies for this 
object, and neglect their master's work. But 
the very contrary was found to be the case, for 
the best cultivated gardens belonged to the 
most laborious and conscientious labourers. 
In the town of Wigan, allotment grounds 
were assigned by two mill owners, deservedly 
respected for the interest which they have 
always taken in the welfare of their opera- 
tives, and I believe that I am justified in 
stating, that the results have been such as to 
satisfy the most sanguine hopes of these 
benevolent men. 

In a village in the East Riding of York- 
shire, the tenants to whom this boon had 
been granted, subscribed for and presented 
to their landlord a silver snulF-box, in token 
of their gratitude. I would respectfully sug- 
gest to all landowners, and employers of 
labour and capital, the expediency of adopting 
the allotment system wherever practicable; 



Pleasure of Cultivating Flowers « 



35 



and I would urge it on the double ground 
that spade husbandry will improve the land 
itself, as much as the simple and inexpensive 
recreation of gardening will benefit the morals 
of the people. To townsmen the benefits are 
incalculable. No one who does not live amid 
the smoke and din of a large town can esti- 
mate the pleasure which a few flowers are 
capable of conferring, nor the influence which 
this taste has in rendering coarser pursuits 
distasteful. Many a time has a bunch of 
flowers brought a measure of happiness to a 
bed-ridden suflferer; many a poor seamstress, 
debilitated by late hours and a confined room, 
has found her sole pleasure in attending to 
the few little plants which somehow continue 
to live on the little balcony outside her win- 
dow, in spite of the smoke, and fog, and 
malaria of the city. Many a time, as I can 
testify, has the flower-garden kept the father 
of a family from the village ale-house. 

It may be objected that gardening is too 
laborious to be considered a recreation. 
Possibly it may be so to an agricultural 
labourer ; but it would not, I think, be 
thought so by a shoemaker, or by any one 
whose occupation is sedentary. 

To other pleasing incidents I may allude, 
although I am scarcely at liberty to mention 
names. I know of more than one gentle- 



36 Flowers Used to Adorn Churches and Graves. 

man's mansion where the produce of the 
green-house is devoted, year by year, to the 
purpose of decorating town churches. In 
an " out-of-the way " village in Lancashire, 
flower-beds are regularly cultivated by young 
factory girls, who rise at four or five on 
Easter-day morning to adorn the church with 
the fairest, the sweetest, and choicest flowers 
they can produce. Again, I have seen village 
maidens welcome a happy young bride by 
strewing her way to church with flowers, as 
if to symbolize their good wishes, that flowers 
and not thorns, happiness and not cares, might 
be her portion. And who has not noticed 
the carefully-tended grave, strewed with 
fresh flowers day by day, by some loving wife 
or sister, and planted with choicest shrubs ? 
as though, to use the words of Keble, the 
mourners would be 

" Gathering from every loss and grief 
Hope of new spring and endless home." 

You all know that this has been done by 
our Queen ever since her great loss ; and I 
believe I am right in saying that Her Majesty 
places a fresh wreath on the Prince Consort's 
tomb every anniversary of his birth-day, 
wedding-day, and day of his death. 

Of course there are persons who see neither 
beauty nor poetry in these things, to whom 
the ever-varying face of nature, the shifting 



Poetry and Symbolism distasteful to some, 37 



cloud, and the golden sunset, speak of no- 
thing but the state of the weather and the 
chance of getting in their crops. Just as the 
Cambridge mathematician laid aside Milton's 
Paradise Lost because ''it proved nothing,'' 
so there are utilitarians who would cultivate 
no flower but a cauliflower, or retain any- 
symbolical act whatever. Their churches 
they would have, in the country, like barns, 
and in the town like concert rooms, " neat, 
warm, and commodious," as I have heard a 
worthy churchwarden define his ideal of what 
a church should be; and poetry, and symbol- 
ism, and imagination they would altogether 
divorce from religion and religious rites. I 
do not quarrel with them if these are their 
honest convictions ; but I claim a like liberty 
for mvself, and for those who think with me, 
that art is the handmaid of religion, and that 
nature suggests " outward and visible signs," 
or sacraments of invisible truths. 

So much, then, for Out-door recreation. 
I now come to consider In-door amusements. 
And first I would observe, that whatever 
makes the home of the working man attrac- 
tive to him, and keeps him there, drawing 
closer the bonds which bind together husband 
and wife, parent and child, does him the 
greatest good of anything in the world. 
Giving all due weight to the need which the 



38 In-door Amusements add to Happiness, 

man has for change, the wife, who has been 
busy all day long in attending to the house 
and the children, in preparing the meals, and 
the thousand and one little matters which 
fall to her province, has surely her claim to 
the relaxation as well as he. It is not right 
for the husband to have all the cream, and 
the %vife only the skim milk. Nature, her- 
self, has laid a too unequal burden on the 
weaker vessel, for the man to be such a sel- 
fish churl as to refuse to share in such of her 
trials as he may. Ancient chivalry sought to 
compensate women for the greater ills her 
" flesh is heir to " by the higher honour 
accorded to her. A grand old code was that 
same chivalry ! We retain the spirit of it in 
the precedence of rank given to noble ladies 
over their brothers, in our taking off* our hats 
to ladies, opening for them the doors, and all 
the nameless attentions, which no one who 
pretends to be a civilized being would refuse, 
and which women may always expect, unless 
they themselves forfeit these distinctions by 
assuming bold, forward, "fast" manners, or 
by leaving their proper home-duties to talk 
nonsense about women's rights on platforms. 

I say, then, that it is not fair for the 
husband to leave his wife to bear her cares 
alone, that he may indulge systematically in 
amusements ; and that clubs, reading-rooms, 



Domestic Comfort in the Wife's Hands, 39 

lectures, working men's colleges, would do 
more harm than good if they made home 
distasteful, and took the husband and father 
away from his wife and children. And here 
I may venture to say one word to the ladies 
themselves. A woman has her own comfort 
verv much in her own hands. If she is 
cheerful and good tempered, she will be her 
husband's natural companion in his summer 
evening's walks, and he will carry the baby 
out for her, as I have seen in our public 
parks; and again, as I have also observed her 
watching him at his gymnastic exercises with 
an honest, matronly pride. It will be, to a 
very great extent, her fault if his home is not 
comfortable ; and comfortable it cannot be if 
she is dirty and untidy in her habits, with a 
voice pitched above what musicians call the 
key natural. On the other hand, " a dinner 
of herbs where love is " is no indigestible 
meal, and a neat parlour, with a bright fire, 
a kettle singing on the hob, and puss purring 
on the hearth, is, on a winter's night, no very 
unattractive spot.* Besides, it is home, ^'and 
home," as the old proverb says, '*is home, 
be it never so homely." Never could the 
lending library do half so much good, as 
when the good man reads aloud to his wife 
and children the books he borrows, thus 
4 Note L. 



40 



Novels : their Uses and Abuses, 



sharing his pleasures with them, and seeking 
to profit them as well as himself. I know 
that there are old fashioned, but well mean- 
ing folks, who would only place the Bible in 
the hands of poor people. I would only say 
to them, when the Bible is the only book 
you read yourselves, it will be time to restrict 
the poor man to one book ; but till you give 
up your magazines and newspapers, and burn 
or sell all your library, but your Bible, you 
will not be consistent. 

And here I would say a word in favour 
of judiciously selected Novels. They are 
of great use in giving ideas of life and man- 
ners, and many of them, such, for example, 
as those of Sir Walter Scott, are really value- 
able from the vivid, accurate pictures which 
they draw of the times of our forefathers. 
Then there is a happy, kindly geniality in 
Mr. Dickens' novels which has whiled away 
many a weary hour. It would be invidious 
to draw comparisons, and I will only say that 
the dangers arising from novels are, first, 
that they may indispose the mind for more 
profitable reading; and, secondly, that since 
working men have so little time on their 
hands, they might employ their leisure to 
more advantage. But as I am speaking on 
the amusements, and not on the studies of 
the people, I need only allude to these dan- 



Games Jit for Working Men: hut not Cards. 41 

gers. I would certainly not exclude novels 
from the libraries of working men ; and I 
am very happy to be able to stale, on the 
authority of more than one publisher both 
in London and the Provinces, that the public 
taste for novels is rapidly improving, and 
that the fictions contained even in such peri- 
odicals as Reynolds' Miscellany ^ the London 
Journal^ and the Family Herald, are much 
better than they were in times past. 

It is at home that Music should be heard, 
unless, as with some wind instruments, it 
becomes so deafening as to be unpleasant (to 
say nothing of waking the baby). Why 
should not games such as draughts, and 
chess, and backgammon, amuse the poor? 
I wish that I could include cards ; but in- 
deed I cannot. They may, I know, be played 
without any harm ; but they are not, gene- 
rally, so played by working men ; and more 
oaths and ill tempers have been exhibited 
over the dirty, greasy, beer-stained pack of 
cards, than over any other game. Besides 
which, there is a prejudice against them in 
religious minds, and it is surely better to 
respect that prejudice. A clergyman, for 
example, known to be a card-player, or a 
dancer, or a frequenter of theatres, would be 
the very last man, with the exception of an 
immoral person, to whom a penitent would 

D 



42 Theatres: their Uses and Abuses, 

resort to "open his grief/' and for whom a 
sick man would send on his death-bed. 
Believing, as I do, that the more the clergy- 
identify themselves with the people, and 
countenance, and at times mix with them in 
their amusements, the more their influence 
will be extended ; yet I am persuaded that 
they will never lose respect by personal self- 
denial. St. Paul's rule should be theirs : — 
" All things are lawful for me, but all things 
are not expedient ; all things are lawful for 
me, but all things edify not." 

I must now come to consider such in-door 
amusements as cannot be had at home. These 
include Theatres, Dancing Saloons, Con- 
certs, Oratorios, Penny Readings, Lec- 
ture Rooms, Reading Rooms, Libraries, 
News Rooms, Working Men's Clubs, Tea 
Parties, Scientific and other Exhibitions. 

And first as to the Theatre. I know that 
I am here treading on delicate ground, and I 
must speak cautiously and advisedly, because 
I have not only to encounter prejudice, but 
to respect the convictions of good and earnest 
men. Perhaps all, save those who put under 
a ban every kind of recreation, good, bad 
and indifferent, admit that there is, in the 
abstract^ no harm in dramatic representa- 
tions. There is no sin in talking in blank 
verse, nor in personating kings and queens. 



Theatre-going not necessarily Wrong, 



43 



Nor is there anything necessarily more de- 
grading in getting one's living on the stage, 
than by teaching music. An actor may be 
a gentleman, and a Christian too, as far as the 
mere acting goes ; and there is no reason, 
in the nature of things, why the head of a 
Christian family might not take his wife and 
children to hear one of the plays of our im- 
mortal Shakspeare, pruned, perhaps, of a few 
excrescences, and so enjoy one of the most 
elevating of all our public amusements. 

This is the abstract view of the subject; 
but, as the logicians say, we must regard the 
question in the concrete. We must consider 
the stage with all the circumstances connected 
with it, and not as we wish it to be. The 
question then is, — Is the Theatre, as at 
present conducted, such an amusement as 
Christian men and women may safely and 
conscientiously indulge in? or is it so inti- 
mately connected with the pomps and vani- 
ties of this wicked world, or the sinful lusts 
of the flesh, that every consistent Christian 
must avoid it like the plague?^ 

Once for all let me say that on this subject 
I am a learner. I do not profess to be com- 
petent to talk about things of which I must, 
necessarily, know more by hearsay than by 
personal observation. I have been to the 
5 Note M. 



44 



Fenny Theatres^ or " Gaffs.^- 



theatre when a layman, and I admit at once 
that a father of a family may visit it without 
detriment to his morals, or those of his family ; 
he may hear a good play, and be amused and 
instructed, and not corrupted. But this is 
not the whole question. He has to consider, 
not the effect on himself alone, but on others. 
And here my approval of the stage must end. 
The plays are not always such as modest 
ears may hear, or modest eyes behold ; and 
both the company (I use the word techni- 
cally, meaning the actors) and the audience 
are often far other than such as a Christian 
man can approve of. 

I have been told, on the authority of a 
detective officer, that theatres are a great 
downfall to young men ; and that it is at 
such places that they generally find out the 
youths whom they suspect of dishonestly 
tampering with the property of their em- 
ployers ; because it is there that young men 
form those associations which so unduly tax 
their resources. Let anyone walk down 
Covent Garden, Drury Lane, or the Hay- 
market in the evening, and he will under- 
stand my meaning. But what are we to 
say of the Penny Theatres, or " Gaffs " 
as they are called ? I fear that they have 
been, too often, little better than sinks of 
impurity. Here, then, is a question for all 



Cannot the Stage he Reformed ? 



45 



thoughtful men to solve. Is the devil to 
have all his own way with the stage ? Is it 
to be considered his peculiar province ? Are 
there to be no means of cleansing the Augean 
stables ? My own opinions on such a sub- 
ject would be of such little value, that I will 
rather give you the results of the experience 
of others better qualified to judge. 

If it were compatible with Christian so- 
briety," says Mr. Clarke, " most people 
would allow that the Theatre would be the 
most complete and interesting of all amuse- 
ments. It is specially the recreation of the 
people, those who are too exhausted by their 
toil to find rest in scientific lectures, or other 
recreations, which require the mind to be 
active. In the theatre the mind is passive ; 
it is acted on through the eye, without con- 
scious eflfort to itself. There is no strain on 
the attention, and therefore it is that one 
regrets that the theatre has fallen so sadly 
low that, as it is now, a modest woman, a 
right-judging man, can scarcely enter it. 
But surely there is no need that it should 
always be so. The three great evils that 
environ it are, — its association with drunken- 
ness and licentiousness, the doubtful morality 
of plays, the unworthy character of the 
majority of the actors. We have left it in 
the hands of the professedly ungodly and 



46 Theatres ought to he Supervised. 

profane, and can we wonder if it has become 
ungodly and profane? We can look for no 
advance in the purifying of the drama, so 
long as religious men keep aloof from it. 
In Germany, where the drama has never 
been so completely reprobated by Christian 
people as in England, an effort is now being 
made to redeem it, by putting the theatre 
under the control of a person of conscience 
and character. It does seem that it would 
be better for the purity of public morals to 
have a theatre under a firm committee of 
supervision, some of whom should be present 
at every performance, with taste as severe as 
the authorities may choose, and that in their 
presence the performances should go on, with 
shorter duration, and earlier hours, than at 
present. There would be no danger then of 
disgraceful dancing, disgusting singing, and 
loose inuendo being flung in to form part of 
the performance. The advantage of such a 
theatre would be, that people would be drawn 
away from the haunts of intemperance, and 
the debasing, secret pastimes which now at- 
tract them. But while we thus speak, once 
more we must denounce the theatre as it is, 
as one of the most fearfully powerful of our 
schools of vice, most vile in its surroundings, 
most lax in its teachings." 

Speaking of penny theatres, Mr. Goodwin 



Theatres represent the Tastes of the Age* 47 

remarks, in his interesting book, entitled, 
Town Swamps and Social Bridges, — " Much 
evil arises from these resorts; nevertheless, we 
have a strong conviction that they are calcu- 
lated to do more good than harm, and that it 
is not so desirable to interdict as to improve 
them, and render them a means of satisfying, 
innocently, that yearning for mental food to 
which we have alluded. "~p. 94. 

I will conclude my observations on the 
stage with one remark, that, like every other 
amusement, it will always represent the tastes 
and feelings of the age, and that in propor- 
tion as these tastes and feelings improve, the 
stage must improve too, or it will certainly 
fail. It is worthy of the consideration of all 
those beneficent men^ who are endeavouring 
to provide rational amusements for the people, 
to see if they cannot secure a cheap theatre, 
with a carefully-selected company, and with 
such plays as alone are proper. A rule might 
be laid down for regulating admission, never 
found to be inconvenient in general society, 
that everyone should give in his name, and 
that no female should be admitted without a 
proper introduction. 

Akin to theatres are Dancing-Saloons. 
What can we say of these ? Why, of course, 
that dancing is of itself innocent and healthy. 
There is no more harm in dancing than in 



48 Dancing Saloons productive of Evil, 



marching to the sound of music. In the 
bright and sunny climes of the south, young 
men and maidens dance to the sound of the 
fiddle or the tambourine ; and why should 
not our young folks do the same ? I have two 
things to say to this question ; first, where do 
they learn to dance? and, secondly, when do 
they dance ? If they learn at places where 
youths of both sexes mix indiscriminately, 
without the presence of their parents, or of 
some trustworthy friend who stands in the 
place of a parent, then I cannot find language 
strong enough to express my abhorrence of 
such proceedings. And what shall we say 
of the public-house saloons, at the statute 
fairs in the country, or of the " Free and 
Easies" in our towns, where dancing is 
announced to begin at nine, where any gentle- 
man^ save the mark! may introduce a lady, 
and where the profits arise from the sale of 
spirituous liquors consumed, and from other 
more questionable resources ? ! shame on 
the Christian country which allows of such 
things; shame on the Magistrates who dare 
to licence such places ; shame on the Clergy 
if they do not lift up their voices, trumpet- 
tongued, to denounce them. But, thank 
God, they do denounce them. Churchmen 
and Dissenters are united in a bold denun- 
ciation of these abominations. 



Dancing not necessarily Wrong. 49 



The remarks which apply to the theatre 
apply to dancing. Are there no means of 
wresting it from the evil one ? Cannot 
people dance, and not always in company 
with the devil — like Robin Burns' excise- 
man ? Can religious men do nothing in this 
matter? Of course, if a man has adopted 
the foregone conclusion that every one who 
dances, dances for mere " sensual enjoy- 
ment," and ranks himself for the nonce with 
" the army of Satan," the antagonists of 
God," there is no reasoning with him. But, 
happily, all religious men do not think so. 
Every dance is not objectionable ; and no 
merrier sight would I wish to see than the 
carpet taken off from the drawing-room floor, 
and a party of 5^oung people spending an 
evening at Christmas-tide in dancing, as well 
as in other amusements. Connected with 
more than one manufactory, opportunities for 
dancing have been afforded, and we are assured 
by the proprietors with no evil results.^ This 
experiment has been tried at Birmingham. 
Again, a congregation of Protestant Dissen- 
ters at Boston, in the United States, have so 
far overcome their prejudices, as to provide 
dancing for the Sunday School children. 
" Vulgarly," says the genial Vicar of St. 
Michael's Derby, from whose pamphlet our 
^ May Cross Works, near Chesterfield. 



50 



Benefits of Cheap Concerts. 



account is taken, " 'the proof of the pudding 
is in the eating;' the wisdom of a plan is 
seen in the issue." This plan (of combining 
recreations with religious associations) has 
been tried in Boston for twenty years ; nearly 
ten thousand children have passed under this 
joyous, cheerful, loving discipline; yet it is 
said that not one of those really connected 
with this school has fairly fallen under the 
temptations which so beleaguer the human 
soul, especially of the poor and of the young 
in the crowded walks of a great city. 

The next amusement I have to name is 
the Cheap Concert. 

Cheap Concerts have been attended with 
the very best results in London, in Man- 
chester, in Liverpool, in Birmingham, in 
Leeds, and in fact in most of our large towns. 
Working men have proved themselves to be 
quite as appreciating, not to say as critical, 
an audience, as any which may be found in 
the ^' west end;" and I have the authority of 
a great musical composer for saying that 
only really good music is ever permanently 
popular. You all know what Shakspeare 
says of music, — 

" When griping grief the heart doth wound, 
And doleful dumps the mind oppress, 
Then music with her silver sound, 
With speedy help doth lend redress." 



Refining Influence of Music, 



51 



And again, — 

Preposterous ass, that never read so far 
To know the cause why music was ordained ! 
Was it not to refresh the mind of man 
After his studies, or his usual pain ? " 

I do think that such persons as Messrs. 
Jullien, and Charles Halle, are real bene- 
factors to their race ; and you will, I think, 
agree with me, that they are entitled to the 
gratitude of thousands. In London, Bir- 
mingham, and Stoke-upon-Trent, monster 
concerts have been attended with signal suc- 
cess, and the " movement " has extended 
even to Presbyterian Scotland. In Edin- 
burgh, the Saturday evening's entertainment 
has been advocated by Dr. Guthrie himself. 

Two things seem essential to the success 
of musical entertainments ; first, they should 
be cheap ; secondly, the music should not be 
too elaborate. If secular, let it be of the 
ballad kind. You remember what Dr. John- 
son said, " Give me the ballads and you may 
take the pulpits." Let it be of an ennobling 
kind. If sacred, let every effort be made to 
secure reverence. 

A very good arrangement was adopted at 
an Oratorio which took place in Manchester 
a few years ago. An able and eloquent divine 
— the Dean of Chichester — was present, and 
explained the subject. Some other entertain- 
ment might be mingled with the music, to 



52 



Penny Readings Popular and Useful. 



give a rest to the ear, and a pleasing variety to 
the entertainment, — such as dissolving views, 
the music corresponding with the represen- 
tation, " gentle music o'er our senses steal- 
ing," at the same time that the eye is en- 
tranced by a moonlight scene, or the interior 
of a cathedral. 

Glad am 1 to see the clerical broad-cloth 
side by side with honest fustian at our Cheap 
Concerts. 

I hope, however, that these remarks will 
not be understood as if I meant to approve 
of Music Halls so called. There is all the 
difference in the world between a " Concert 
Hall" and a " Music Hall." In the one the 
music forms the sole entertainment ; in the 
other it is only secondary.^ 

Penny Readings have been a great means 
of influencing working men for good, and 
keeping them out of the public-house ; they 
have the decided advantage over many other 
amusements, that they may be enjoyed by the 
husband and father, in company with his wife 
and children. I have taken part in these 
readings in London, in Manchester, in a re- 
mote village in Cheshire, and in Tenby. In 
every case the readings were a decided suc- 
cess. Of course we had now and then to 
regret that the tastes of the audience were 
T Note N. 



Lectures Useful, if not too Dry, 



53 



not more refined, that broad humour " took" 
more than genuine wit, that Mrs. Caudle s 
Curtain Lectures were more popular than 
Lord Macaulay's Lays, or Mr. Tennyson's 
finest poems ; but this is, after all, what might 
be expected before hand, and a judicious com- 
mittee of management will find but little diffi- 
culty in making a proper selection. As the 
Preface to our Prayer-book would put it, it 
must be our " wisdom to keep the mean be- 
tween the two extremes of too much stiflfness 
in refusing, and too much easiness in admit- 
ting," subjects calculated only to excite 
laughter and mirth. AH palates cannot ap- 
preciate caviare, and we must seek to elevate 
the tastes of the audiences at our Penny 
Readings. 

A word now on Lecture Rooms, although 
I shall dismiss them speedily, as hardly 
coming under the definition of amusements. 
I have my doubts as to whether people are 
not tired of lectures. Everywhere I hear 
the same complaint, that they have been 
overdone. Possibly the fault is that they 
have been too abstruse, too technical, too 
difficult; that they have been shot like rockets 
over the heads of the people, and after a 
little flash, and a few sparks, have left no 
light behind. One hint I would give to all 
caterers for the public taste. If you want 



o4 



Reading Rooms and Libraries. 



to secure an interested audience, give them 
something to see, as well as to hear ; diagrams 
for example, an orrery, dissolving views, or 
chemical experiments. 

Pretty nearly the same remarks apply to 
Reading Rooms and Libraries ; the}^ are 
designed for instruction rather than amuse- 
ment. I rejoice, indeed, that they are now 
multiplying everywhere, and I can bear 
witness to the decorum and good conduct of 
those who make use of them. I have not 
the report of any of our free libraries at 
hand, or I might give you a few statistics, 
unless you are as sick of statistics as I am. 
I am tired to death of tables, classifying 
and sub-classifying, and reducing all God's 
creatures to rows of figures, like the multi- 
plication table. So, instead of telling you 
how many books are taken daily, weekly, 
or monthly, from any of our " Free Libra- 
ries," or the " Athenaeums," or " Church 
Institutes," or whether Butler's Analogy, or 
Household Words, are mostly in demand, 
let me recommend the selection of such 
books as the people will read — such as will 
amuse as well as instruct the readers.^ 

Very recently attempts have been made, 
and happily with great success, to combine 
the attractions of a Lecture Room, Library 
8 Note O. 



Benefits of Working Mens Clubs, 



35 



and News Rooms, with still more popular 
amusements, in the form of Working Men's 
Clubs.^ Some of these Institutions are con- 
nected with churches, chapels, or schools, 
and are under the control of the clergyman ; 
others are self-supporting, and managed by 
a committee. In all the clubs with whose 
reports I have been able to make myself 
acquainted, I find the following to be among 
the provisions made for the members : — 

1. A well-lighted room, with a cheerful 
fire, commodious seats, and convenient tables 
on which are placed newspapers, magazines, 
reviews, and the like. 

2. Accommodation in-doors for such games 
as chess, draughts, backgammon, dominoes, 
bagatelle, and out of doors for cricket, 
skittles, &c. 

3. Coffee, tea, and bread and butter, sup- 
plied at an average rate of a penny for a 
breakfast cup, and a half-penny for a slice of 
bread and butter. 

In some of these Clubs smoking is allowed, 
(a suggestion which I ventured myself to 
make in a series of papers written some years 
ago,) in others it is prohibited. Tea parties 
and lectures are also given, to which the 
wives and children of the members are ad- 
mitted—an excellent regulation, which may 
9 Note P. 



56 Working Men need Change. 



materially lessen our apprehensions that the 
working man would become so enamoured 
of his club as to imbibe a distaste for his 
home. 

But the working man may fairly retort on 
his wealthy neighbour, that he is not the 
only one to whom a club presents superior 
attractions than home, and that under very 
different circumstances. He might say, — 
"You are not, as I am, confined to one 
apartment as your sole dining-room, study, 
and nursery ; on washing-days your sitting- 
room is not redolent of soap-suds, and you 
may soon escape from the domestic music of 
wailino^ children and teethino; babies. After 
all, we are both seeking, each in his way, the 
same thing— relief from the monotony of 
our daily occupation, in cheerful company, 
news, and exciting amusements." I do not, 
as I have before shown, ignore the abuse in 
question, but we may reasonably expect 
young, unmarried men, to be the most fre- 
quent subscribers to these clubs. Moreover, 
we have to weigh the attractions of the club, 
not so much against the domesticities " of 
home, as against the temptations of the public 
house, the casino, and the dancing saloon. 
If tea and coffee are the only beverages im- 
bibed, the " missis " may regret that she has 
not more of her " good man's " company. 



Congregational and School Tea Parties, 57 



and that he is not by to hold the baby for 
her; but she will be free from dread of the 
uncertain step, and husky voice, and empty 
pocket, which make so many poor men's 
homes scenes of " mourning, lamentation, 
and woe." 

Whilst I am talking of tea and coffee, I 
cannot help saying a word in favour of con- 
gregational and school Tea Parties. These 
are, specially, the wife's treats. Here she 
may be seen in her best cap and smartest 
gown, and great is the power of talk, and of 
''imbibition," which marks her appreciation 
of the proceedings. For myself, I have as 
insatiable a thirst for tea as Dr. Johnson had ; 
and many have been the occasions when, to- 
gether with the cup which cheers but not 
inebriates," I have partaken of " the feast of 
reason, and the flow of soul." 

But I would venture to make one sugges- 
tion. Do not weary out young folks with 
too many and too long speeches. I have 
been at tea meetings when it has been thought 
hardly respectful not to ask every clergyman 
present to make a speech ; and so it came 
to pass, that good and well-meaning men, 
utterly unable, ordinarily, to say half-a-dozen 
sentences without book, have got on their 
legs, and wearied out the patience of a room- 

E 



58 Scientific and AnatomicaV^ Exhibitions. 

full of people, who had come to enjoy them- 
selves. Have some good and popular music, 
and let your choir sing a few glees, and 
national and loyal songs. Encourage the 
young folks to give recitations, to act charades, 
and even to go through a well-selected play. 
A magic lantern is an unfailing source of 
amusement, if the scenes are not above the 
little folks, and there is a fair number of 
comic slides. A stereoscope, with good photo- 
graphs, may supply the place of the old 
popular peep-show, and be very taking, if 
the exhibitor is able to throw a little life into 
his descriptions. 

Scientific Exhibitions may be made a 
source of amusement as well as instruction, 
though they hardly come under the defini- 
tion of "recreations." A few popular hints 
on the chemistry of common things, illus- 
trated by experiments — on the organization 
of the human frame, illustrated by diagrams 
— or such marvels as Professor Pepper's 
Ghost," may be very interesting, without 
requiring too close attention. Whilst, how- 
ever, I am speaking of such things, I cannot 
too strongly reprobate those " anatomicaV 
exhibitions which, under the pretence of 
being scientific, are in reality indecent and 
demoralizing, and several other exhibitions 



Picture Galleries and Sunday Sports. 59 



to which I need only allude, and which I 
am sorry to see tolerated both in London 
and elsewhere. 

Picture Galleries will need little more 
than a passing notice, because they can only 
be seen in some of our largest towns. Pos- 
sibly our " fine art exhibitions " ma}^ have 
done something towards refining the tastes 
of the working classes, as they certainly have 
in promoting artistic skill ; but as far as my 
experience goes, they are above the popular 
tastes, and exercise but little influence in the 
way of supplying amusement and recreation 
to the many, whatever they may do to the 
more thoughtful few. 

One other question needs more than a pas- 
sing consideration, which I do not think we 
should do right in shirking — Sunday Sports. 
What are we to say about them ? Shall we 
take example from our continental neigh- 
bours, and open out our public parks and 
playgrounds, and encourage our young men 
and maidens to dance and play between 
the hours of Divine Service? Some very 
good people say "Yes;'' and some very 
good people say " No." Those who say 
" Yes" tell us that Sunday games are en- 
gaged in abroad, with but little harm and 
with a great deal of good. Those who say 

No" assure us that such a liberty would be 



r 



60 Shall we encourage Sunday Amusements 1 

but the beginning of a license which must 
end in the general desecration of the Lord's- 
day. Now I quite admit that young men 
and maidens, to say nothing of boys and 
girls, might spend part of their Sundays in 
much worse ways than in sports, and that 
enforced idleness may be productive of much 
greater evils than fun and frolic ; but I can- 
not help feeling, that to encourage Sunday 
amusements would be a direct going against 
our national religious instincts. I do not 
doubt that devout Frenchmen, Germans and 
Italians might play at games on a Sunday, 
and do so with a clear conscience ; but I do 
not think that English youths could. The 
truth is, that in breaking through the reli- 
gious traditions in which he has been brought 
up, a young man would be doing violence to 
his conscience ; and the Apostle Paul says, 

Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." 

The Christian Sabbath, as its name im- 
plies, ought to be a day of rest, as well as of 
spiritual edification ; and this it can hardly 
be if persons whose energies are unduly taxed 
for six days in the week, spend the seventh 
in exciting sports, pondering over curiosities 
in museums, or attending scientific lectures. 
If the services at Church are made hearty 
and attractive, and the sermons are interest- 
ing and not too long, the mental exertion 



Religious Men should countenance Amusements. 61 

would be quite sufficient, and the remainder 
of the day might well be spent in quiet social 
gatherings, in friendly intercourse, in walks 
in the parks, or into the country. For these 
reasons, whilst I would have public parks 
open, I would not encourage Sunday games, 
nor the opening of museums and lecture- 
rooms, on the Lord's-day. We all know the 
torrent of opposition which the publication of 
the Book of Sports caused in King Charles's 
days ; and he would be a bold as well as an 
unwise man, who would force a people to act 
counter to their own convictions.^ 

And now a few words in conclusion. I 
am persuaded that religious men commit a 
grave mistake when they place a ban upon 
amusements, and stand aloof from the re- 
creations of the people. Some persons, in- 
deed, argue that if we were thoroughly im- 
pressed with the love of God, and spiritually 
minded, we should have an utter distaste for 
amusements of any kind. But even were 
this true, we must remember that we have 
to deal with mankind as they are, not as we 
wish them to be. We have to deal with 
young men and women in the hey-day of 
youth, full of life and spirits, surrounded by 
pleasures which are not innocent, and which 
they will inevitably pursue if they cannot 
8 Note Q, 



62 



The Bible not against Amusements, 



find better. The question is not, shall the 
people have recreations ? that they have 
answered for themselves ; but shall we pro- 
vide healthy amusements instead of unhealthy 
ones — innocent instead of guilty ones? I 
must, however, avow my entire dissent from 
the assumption which I have named. Whilst 
I protest against the dissipation which makes 
the pursuit of pleasure the business of life, I 
am sure that there is not one word in the 
Holy Bible against rational amusements in- 
dulged in moderately ; and I cannot but 
think that He, Who was in all things the 
Pattern Man, gave us assurance of this, when 
He hallowed with His sacred presence the 
festivities of a marriage feast, and made 
music and dancing the representation of the 
joy of the Holy Angels over the repentance 
of the sinner. 

As far as my humble influence goes, I 
would gladly mix with the people in their 
amusements, and instead of divorcing religion 
from recreation, I am willing to " publish 
the banns of marriage " between them, and 
to wish them a long and happy union. 

But " there is a good time coming." Class 
and class, long separated by mutual jealousies, 
tempted by dishonest speculations on the one 
hand, and reduced to starving point on the 
other, from over competition, are now draw- 



Upper Classes ought to mix with Lower. 63 

ing nearer and nearer to each other, under a 
conviction that the interests of the one class 
are inseparable from the welfare of the other. 
Improved as we are, however, much still 
remains to be accomplished. We have done 
well in forming parks and free libraries ; but 
the upper classes have not yet learned to mix 
with, and share in, the amusements of their 
poorer neighbours; or, at all events, to coun- 
tenance them by their presence. It is still, I 
fear, a matter of sad but just reproach, that 
Englishmen cannot go by cheap trips, or 
frequent public places of amusement, without 
drunkenness and bad language. How much 
of this is due to the standing aloof of religious 
men, and the separation of classes, I leave 
others to determine. But I am convinced, 
that that man will be one of the greatest 
benefactors to his fellows, who will endeavour 
to free amusements from these accidental 
evils, and himself countenance and support 
all those recreations, on which the serpent's 
trail has not been laid too deeply for them to 
be purified and reformed. Whether dramatic 
performances, dancing, and other amuse- 
ments of a like nature can be so reformed, 
seems to me to be one of the great questions 
of the day, intimately connected with our 
social condition, and one which, I hope and 



64 Conclusion : opinion of Dr. Guthrie. 



pray, may be ere long answered in the aflSr- 
mative. 

I will sum up all I have got to say in the 
words of Dr. Guthrie, who has proved him- 
self to be a most zealous, judicious, and active 
promoter of the legitimate amusements of 
the people, to whose powerful advocacy the 
good citizens of Edinburgh are mainly in- 
debted for their Saturday afternoon holidays. 
and evening concerts — words which ought to 
be written in letters of gold. " Make your 
home," says this eminent man, addressing 
Christian parents, " a bright, cheerful home. 
Mingle firmness with kindness. And from 
late hours, from dangerous companions, from 
nightly scenes of pleasure and amusement, 
more carefully keep your children than you 
bolt door or window against the intrusion of 
those who can but plunder you of property, 
infinitely less valuable than your domestic 
purity, of jewels, infinitely less precious than 
your children's souls." 



APPENDIX. 



NOTE A, p. 9. 

The following wise and sensible remarks, taken from the 
address of the Dean of Chichester, on the occasion referred 
to at page 51, are a sufficient refutation of the objection that 
a clergyman is out of his duty in promoting the recreations 
of the people. To this performance of the sublime oratorio 
of the "Messiah," four thousand working men, women and 
children were gratuitously admitted, through the liberality of 
their employers : — 

"In seeking to provide for and extend the innocent and 
rational amusements of the people, I feel that I am labouring 
in my vocation as a minister of the Gospel, — promoting the 
cause of virtue by diminishing the temptations to vice. Our 
work, whatever it may be, is for the most part assigned to us 
by circumstances over which we have very little control ; but 
with respect to our amusements, much more is left to our 
freedom of choice ; so that, if you desire to know the character 
of a man, it is not sufficient to inquire whether he is indus- 
trious and full of talent in his place of business, you must 
also ascertain to what amusements his leisure hours are 
devoted. A man may be a very skilful artizan, but if his 
leisure hours be passed in places of intemperance, dissipation 
and debauchery, his skill may be beneficial to the public, but 
it will not be advantageous to himself or to his family. To 
empty the pandemoniums of vice, open then and increase the 
places of innocent recreation and amusement ; and most valu- 
able are those amusements which a man can attend accom- 
panied by his family." 

An able writer, of a different school of thought, confirms 
this opinion, in one of the most remarkable works of the 
day. 

"Every one who considers the world as it really is, and not 
as it appears in the writings of ascetics or sentimentalists, 
must have convinced himself that, in great towns, where 



66 



multitudes of men of all classes and characters are massed 
together, and where there are innumerable strangers, sepa- 
rated from all domestic ties and occupations, public amuse- 
ments of an exciting order are absolutely necessary ; and that, 
while they are often the vehicle and the occasion of evil, to 
suppress them, as was done by the Puritans of the Common- 
wealth, is simply to plunge an immense portion of the popula- 
tion into the lowest depths of vice. National tastes, however, 
vary with the different stages of civilization, and national 
amusements will ever vary with the different stages of civili- 
zation." — History of tlie Rise and Influence of Rationalism in 
Europe, by W. E. Lecky, M.A., vol. ii., p. 325. 

I cannot refrain from adding the opinion of a wise and 
experienced country clergyman, my friend and neighbour 
the Rev. G. W. Birkett, Vicar of S. Florence, near Tenby. 

" The recreations of the people form part of their educa- 
tion, and they should be far more common among all ranks 
than they are at present. We benefit both parties alike if 
we can tempt the young gamester from the billiard table, 
and the carpenter or mason from the ale-house, to a hearty 
game of cricket in the open field. Manly and invigorating 
exercises, in which master and servant may take their part ; 
social meetings, in which useful and entertaining lectures are 
dehvered, or adults form themselves into classes, should be 
much more common than they are. The annual feast of 
the Friendly Society should always be presided over by the 
Clergyman or the Squire. In these respects I trust we are 
improving." — Lecture On the Improvement of the Condition 
of the Working Classes, &c. 

NOTE B, F. 12. 

Very prolonged mental exercise is still more injurious, and 
in nearly the same way (as unsystematic exercise). It not 
only produces immediate results of an inferior kind, but it 
incapacitates the faculties for the production of better results 
in future, even though the amount and degree of the exercise 
should then be only legitimate. The brain, or some part of 
it, becomes morbidly affected, functionally if not structurally; 
and it may require years of repose for its restoration, if it 
can ever be restored to its pristine soundness. This is one of 
the most common diseases encountered by physicians among 
literary and professional men, and men of business. 



67 



The dangers of this excess of work might generally be 
avoided, if men were more attentive to the known laws which 
regulate health, whether bodily or mental. Indeed, in this 
instance, as in so many others, the rules applicable to both 
are identical The chief of these rules are, — to intermit the 
labour after a certain reasonable time ; to exercise the muscles 
in the open air during this intermission ; and so to work alter- 
nately with body and mind -Lecture by Sir W. Brown. 

NOTE C, p. 13. 

Many other examples might be cited. Thus Mr. Disraeli 
tells us, that Tycho Brahe diverted himself with polishing 
glasses for all kinds of spectacles. Cardinal de Eichelieu 
found a recreation in violent exercises, and was discovered 
jumping with his servant, to try who could reach the highest 
side of a wall. The great Samuel Clarke was fond of robust 
exercises ; and this profound logician has been found (like 
Newton) leaping over chairs and tables — Curiosities of Litera- 
ture^ vol. i., pp. 41-4. 

NOTE D, p. 17. 

Speaking of young men in the circumstances I have here 
described, Mr. Kingsley says, in a paper read at Bristol, — 
" One fair look at these men's faces ought to tell common 
sense that the cause is rather physical than moral. Confined 
to sedentary occupations, stooping over desks and counters 
in close rooms, unable to obtain that fair share of bodily exer- 
cise which nature demands, and in continual mental effort, 
their nerves and brain have been excited at the expense of 
their lungs, their digestion, and their whole nutritive system. 
Their complexions show a general ill-health. Their mouths, 
too often, hint at latent disease. What wonder if there be 
an irritability of brain and nerve ? I blame them no more 
for it, than I blame a man for being somewhat touchy while 
he is writhing in the gout. Indeed, less ; for gout is very 
often a man's own fault ; but these men's ill-health is not ; 
and, therefore, everything which can restore them to health 
of body, will preserve them in health of mind. Every thing 
which ministers to the corpus sanum will minister also to 
the mentem sanam; and a walk on Durdham Downs, a game 
of cricket, a steamer to Chepstow, shall send them home 
again, happier and wiser men, than poring over many wise 



68 



volumes, or hearing many wise lectures. How often is a 
worthy fellow spending his leisure honourably in hard reading, 
when he had much better have been scrambling over hedge 
and ditch, without a thought in his head save that what is 
put there by the grass, and the butterflies, and the green 
trees, and the blue sky ? And, therefore, I do press earnestly, 
both on the employers and employed, the incalculable value 
of athletic sports and country walks, for those whose business 
compels them to pass the day in the heart of the city. I press 
on you, with my whole soul, the excellency of the early closing 
movement: not so much because it enables young men to 
attend Mechanics' Institutes, as because it enables them, if 
they choose, to get a good game of leap-frog. You may 
smile : but try the experiment, and see how, as the chest 
expands, the muscles harden, and the cheek grows ruddy, 
and the lips firm, and sound sleep refreshes the lad for his 
next day's work, the temper will become more patient, the 
spirits more genial; there will be less tendency to brood 
angrily over the inequalities of fortune, and to accuse society 
for evils which she yet knows not how to cure." — Bjngsley's 
Miscellanies^ vol. ii., p. 336. 

" Deprive, then, the man of his fair share of fresh air and 
pure light, and what follows ? His blood is not properly 
oxygenated ; his nervous energy is depressed, his digestion 
impaired, especially if his occupation be sedentary, or re- 
quires much stooping, and the cavity of the chest becomes 
thereby contracted ; and for that miserable feeling of langour 
and craving he knows but one remedy — the passing stimulus 
of alcohol ; a passing stimulus, leaving fresh depression be- 
hind it, and requiring fresh doses of stimulant, till it becomes 
a habit, a slavery, a madness. Again, there is an intellectual 
side to the question. The depressed nervous energy, the 
impaired digestion, depress the spirits. The man feels low in 
mind as well as in body. Whence shall he seek recreation ? 
Not in that stiflng home which has caused the depression 
itself. He knows none other than the tavern and the com- 
pany which the tavern brings, God help him." — Idem^ p. 329. 

" When the population was small, and commerce feeble, 
the cities grew to no very great size, and the bad effects of 
this crowding were not felt. The cities of England in the 
middle age were too small to keep their inhabitants week 
after week, month after month, in one deadly vapour bath of 



69 



foul gas ; and though the mortality among infants was pro- 
bably excessive, yet we should have seen among the adult 
survivors, few or none of those stunted etiolated figures so 
common now in England, as well as on the Continent. The 
green fields were close outside the walls, where lads and 
lasses went a -Maying, and children gathered flowers, and 
sober burghers, with their wives, took their evening walks ; 
there were the butts, too, close outside, where stalwart 
'prentice lads ran and wrestled, and pitched the bar, and 
played backsword, and practised with the long bow; and 
sometimes, in stormy times, turned out for a few months as 
ready trained soldiers, and, like Ulysses of old, 
' Drank deligM of battle with their peers,' 
and then returned to the workshop and the loom. The very 
mayor and aldermen went forth at five o'clock on the sum- 
mer's morning, with hawk and leaping-pole, after duck and 
heron ; or hunted the hare in state, probably in the full 
glory of furred gown and gold chain ; and then returned to 
breakfast, and doubtless transacted their day's business all 
the better for their morning's gallop on the breezy downs." 
^Idem, p. 323. 

In further proof that the intellectual giants who have 
astonished the world by their discoveries, or by their learning, 
have not been subjected to the severe and early course of 
study now thought to be necessary to produce success, I quote 
the following excellent observations from a pamphlet, entitled 
Mental Vigour : its Attainment Impeded hy Errors in Educa- 
tion^ by Rev. Henry Fearon, B.D., Rector of Loughborough. 

If I were to enumerate a few instances of men, who 
occur to one almost at hazard, as remarkable for powers of 
sustained thought, or for great original genius — such names 
as Newton, Bacon, Locke, Butler, Barrow, Milton, Kepler, 
Galileo, La Place, Liebnitz, Shakspeare — I really cannot 
find any reason for believing them to have been subjected to 
such severities of early and continuous study as competition 
now enforces. In fact, youthful competition, as we under- 
stand it now, had not any existence in their days. I do not 
mean to lay stress on anecdotes of questionable authenticity, 
or I might refer to the current belief that Newton's mother 
pronounced Isaac, at the age of twelve, to be ' good for little 
but rolling large stones ;' that Barrow, great mathematician 
as he was, no less than divine, made no successful early 



70 



efforts, except such as were — I blush to say it — pugilistic ; 
that the last application of the rod at Cambridge was to 
correct the moody idleness (hear it not, ye nymphs of Par- 
nassus !) of him whose brain was big with the spiritual 
philosophy and the gorgeous imagery of Paradise Lost. Oh ! 
what an incubation was that to be thus rudely interfered 
with. Seriously, however, we do not find evidence that these 
men, and others like them, were subjected to severe mental 
contests in their youth ; and if these be fables, they may not 
be entirely without their moral. You must do me the justice 
to remember that I am considering only the question of mental 
strength, and what seems to favour it.'" 

l^OTE E, p. 18. 

" For the young and strong, however, there are recreations 
more attractive, and physically more important, than music. 
No one can have overlooked in late years the revival, even 
amongst our town populations, of healthy games and athletic 
exercises. The days are gone when skittles were well nigh 
the only game involving any amount of strength which was 
known to the working man. The spread of cricket has been 
most marked. The London co-operative gilders, when fairly 
afloat, shortened for themselves their Saturday labour in 
order to play cricket, and found themselves pecuniary gainers 
by the change. The interest excited by the Oxford and 
Cambridge boat race is, on the whole, an exceedingly healthy 
one, and by diffusing the taste for rowing, has probably saved 
many a young London working man from gross forms of 
temptation. Boating clubs, as well as cricket clubs, are now 
almost sure to spring up, wherever working men are brought 
together in any numbers within reach of a river. Quoits, 
German gymnastics, or Turner's exercises are spreading, and 
afford the hope that another generation or two may see 
grow up a town population of far better physique than the 
existing one." — Progress of the Working Classes^ by J. M. 
Ludlow and Lloyd Jones, p. 194. 

NOTE F, p. 19. 

Not that bull-baiting, bear-baiting and cock-fighting were 
then thought barbarous. 

" Humanity," says Mr. Lecky, " in theory, appears to be 
an unchangeable virtue, but if we examine its applications we 



71 



find it constantly changing. Bull-baiting and bear-baiting 
and cock-fighting and countless amusements of a similar 
kind, were once the favourite pastimes of Europe, were 
pursued by all classes even the most refined and the most 
humane, and were universally regarded as perfectly legiti- 
mate. Men of the most distinguished excellence are known 
to have delighted in them. Had any one challenged them as 
barbarous, his sentiments would have been regarded not 
simply as absurd, but as incomprehensible. There was, no 
doubt, no controversy upon the subject. Gradually, how- 
ever, by the silent pressure of civilization, a profound change 
passed over public opinion. It was effected, not by any in- 
crease of knowledge, or by any process of definite reasoning, 
but simply by the gradual elevation of the moral standard. 
Amusements that were once universal passed from the women 
to the men, from the upper to the lower classes, from the 
virtuous to the vicious, till at last the Legislature interposed 
to suppress them, and a thrill of indignation is felt whenever 
it is discovered that any of them have been practised. Lord 
Macaulay, with characteristic antithesis, says, — ' If the Puri- 
tans suppressed bull-baiting, it was not because it gave pain 
to the bull, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators.' " 
— History of Rationalism in Europe^ vol. i., pp. 231-3. 

NOTE G, p. 22. 

See Harvest Thanksgivings and their Accompanying Festi- 
vals^ by the Rev. Edward Jackson, Rector of Easthorpe, 
Salop. London : Masters. An invaluable little work. 

Of the two modes of ending harvest," says the Rev. J. 
Cuppage, in his sermon, entitled. Harvest Increase the Gift of 
God, London : Masters, " (the customary ' supper,' with 
drunkenness and excess, its invariable, though far from its 
only, attendant sins, and the Christian ' harvest home,' with 
its accompanying happy yet sinless festivities we this day 
celebrate,) and of their respective propriety, no comparison 
can be instituted that does not establish the desirableness of 
the one, and make manifest the exceeding sinfulness of the 
other. Surely every master and every labourer.^ — at least 
every Christian master and Christian labourer — must acknow- 
ledge that this House of God is the most fitting place wherein 
to close the ' appointed weeks of harvest.' And, as the 
fruits of harvest are needful to support the lives of all alike. 



72 



SO is it right and comely, when those fruits are safely gar- 
nered, that we all — high and low — rich and poor — one with 
another — should unite in such a Service of Thanksgiving to 
God as it has been our privilege to join in this morning." 

NOTE H, p. 26. 

THE GOUT. 

" The progress of building in London, which was extremely 
great under Elizabeth, filled up many of the old tilt-yards, 
shooting-grounds and race- courses around the city, and cur- 
tailed many of the old facilities for manly sports and exercises. 
The sedentary life thus enforced, joined with a more luxu- 
rious mode of living, soon began to produce some novel 
ailments, and the gout (then emphatically named the enemy) 
showed itself pretty plainly amongst the higher classes of 
society. The active games of their forefathers were now, 
indeed, exchanged for the cock-pit, the theatre, the bear- 
garden, the eating-houses and taverns, dicing-houses and 
smoking ordinaries which sprang up rapidly in every street." 
— Eccleston's Introduction to English Antiquities^ p. 314. 

NOTE I, p. 26. 

PUBLIC PLAY-GROUNDS. 

An association for opening public play-grounds has been 
formed in London, and much credit is due to Mr, Slaney for 
advocating the cause in the House of Commons. On this 
subject Mr. Godwin writes in his Town Swamps and Social 
Bridges^ pp. 91, 2: — 

We sincerely hope that the object will not be lost sight 
of. Wholesome recreation for adults is amongst the neces- 
saries of life ; and as to the poor children of London and 
other large towns, it is scarcely possible to over-estimate the 
degradation and money loss brought about by confining them 
to the wretched homes of their parents, or the more wretched 
haunts of the thousands of town children who have no 
parents or protectors to overlook them. You may often see 
children, dwellers in the close courts and alleys which in 
many cases adjoin our nicely planted squares, the home of 
fashion, following the instincts of nature, creeping from the 
shadow to the fresher air and sunshine, and eagerly peeping 
through the inclosures at the shrubs and flowers, till driven 



73 



back by the stalwart street-keepers and policemen, wben they 
scamper off to their dingy homes, where, in too many in- 
stances contamination awaits them. In confined streets the 
children are without the means of healthful amusement, or of 
any chance of occupying their time and leading their thoughts 
in such a manner as would be likely to strengthen the body 
or cultivate the faculties. They cannot, hke little George 
Stephenson, ramble to the ' burn,' and amuse themselves in 
constructing miniature water-mills, or dig clay from the bog, 
and gather the stems of hemlocks, and fashion the materials 
into engines. A rightly-formed heart must ache for the poor 
boys and girls of London, particularly when it is recollected 
what multitudes of them there are who are progressing 
towards manhood and womanhood deteriorated and educated 
downwards. To many of them the glorious tints of the 
setting sun are a sight scarcely known, and to them the ' rosy 
hue of incense-breathing morn ' must be as strange as the 
fresh green places in which the children in the country have 
an opportunity of cheerfully spending their play-hours. Who 
has heard without delight the joyous voices and the rush into 
lanes and fields of the children of the village schools — how 
different from the dismissal from the schools of the poor in 
parts of London — to many of whom a large dust-heap, the 
embankment made when opening a sewer, or some similar 
arena, is a treat of an extraordinary description." 

Whilst on the subject of parks and play-grounds, I ought, 
perhaps, to say something about public gardens, where fire- 
works, music, dancing and dramatic performances are ex- 
hibited. The entertainment is often, I believe, of a superior 
kind; but the results, owing to late hours, indiscriminate 
associations, and the facilities for obtaining spirituous liquors, 
are, I fear, such as all who wish to promote decency and 
morality must deeply deplore. Those who are best informed 
on the question, and have made it their business to ascertain 
their tendencies, trace the ruin of many young persons of 
both sexes, to these gardens. Four things seem absolutely 
necessary to render them innocuous : — -firstly^ the presence of 
parents, and respectable married people ; secondly^ they should 
be closed at an early hour; thirdly^ no intoxicating drink 
should be sold at or near the premises ; fourthly^ the super- 
vision of an inspector, or master of the ceremonies, who should 
be answerable for the character of the entertainment, and the 

F 



74 



conduct of those who are present. There seems, however, so 
little hope of these regulations being enforced, that I can 
only strongly urge upon every young person whom I can 
influence, never to visit any of these places except in the day- 
time, and in the company of their parents. It is to be hoped 
that the Legislature may interfere, so as to prevent these 
frightful evils. 

NOTE K, p. 30. 

FAIRS. 

In large towns, it is perhaps to much to hope to reform 
the Fair Days, especially when the executive and municipal 
governments are too weak to combat the evils of drunken- 
ness and Sunday trading, or to interfere with the casinos 
beer-houses, and other places of resort. But in the country, 
no such insuperable obstacles exist ; and there seems to be 
no reason why the clergy, landowners, farmers, shopkeepers 
and others should not combine to promote this desirable 
object. 

In the neighbourhood where I spent my youth, there is 
a country fair, which is the opportunity for a general reunion 
for miles round. Servants leave their places for two or three 
days' holiday, and all the scattered members of families living 
in the neighbourhood go to church in their smartest attire 
on Trinity Sunday, or as it is universally known throughout 
that part of the East Riding, as " Cave Fair^^ Sunday. For 
days previously, the houses and cottages are cleaned up, and 
great are the preparations on the occasion, especially of a 
sweetmeat known as '•'•Cave Fair'''' cheesecakes, of whose ex- 
cellencies I can speak from experience. As far as I know, 
the attractions are a few shows, and perhaps a dance in the 
evening, to which I can see no objection, if the rule I have 
indicated (p. 49) were observed. So strong are the associa- 
tions of " Cave Fair," (and it is but a type of many others,) 
that I have known country youths, who have ''got on in life" 
in London and Manchester, embrace this opportunity for 
visiting their homes. 

I rejoice to be able to state that the question of statute 
fairs has been fairly taken up by the clerg}^ and landowners, 
and that the agricultural mind is being thoroughly roused to 
a sense of the vice and profligacy which abound on these 
occasions. Both of our Archbishops, and several of our 



75 



Bishops and Archdeacons, have at different times mooted the 
subject in their charges. Well does Archdeacon Bickersteth 
observe, Cliarge^ p. 32 : — 

" Of this there can be no doubt, that they do become, in 
their attendant circumstances, the occasions of a vast amount 
of vice and profligacy. There is, moreover, something de- 
grading and revolting in the idea of young people being 
publicly exhibited for hire, and even handled, and judged of 
almost entirely by their physical qualifications. One great 
evil connected with this system is this, that it encourages 
the custom among farm servants of making their service 
annually only. The remedy appears to be this, that the 
employers, in making their selection, should pay more regard 
to moral qualifications ; and that, where their servants have 
proved diligent and faithful, they should, by improving their 
wages, encourage them to remain. The advantage would 
surely be as great on the part of the master as on that of the 
servant, if the period of service were not necessarily supposed 
to expire at the year's end ; and the bond of union which 
ought to join together the master and the servant, and all of 
them to their pastor, would not be so frequently or so 
abruptly severed." 

I very recently paid personal visits to two statute or hiring 
fairs in South Wales, and I must say that I could not shut 
my eyes to the existence of the loorst evils here alluded to. 

The following letter will show how an earnest clergyman 
has taken the matter in hand : — 

" The great Glen Feast of Dedication begins on Sunday next 
after the 22nd day of November. 
My dear Parishioners, — For such persons as we are, true 
joy can arise only out of the sorrows of repentance. If, then, 
we would enjoy the Feast of Dedication, which again ap- 
proaches, let us first be sorry, and confess to God that we 
have not used so diligently as we ought to have done, the 
means of grace which He has ordained in His Church ; after 
that it will better become us to rejoice and give thanks, that 
these holy things are still, of His great mercy, continued to 
us. It is to express such joy that we keep up our ancient 
feast. 

On Advent Sunday the Holy Communion will be ad- 
ministered. I beg you to consider the solemn admonition in 
the Prayer-book, — 'When God calleth you, are ye not 



76 



ashamed to say, ye will not come ? When ye should return 
to God, will ye excuse yourselves, and say, ye are not ready? * 

" On Monday, Nov. 28th, Divine Service will be at ten 
o'clock a.m., iJiat the foot-hall players may have opportunity to 
worship God he, fore they hegin their game. The children will 
dine at one o'clock. 

On Tuesday, the Evening Choral Service, and the Feast 
of Charity afterwards, as usual. 

"On Wednesday, — St. Andrew's Day, — there will be a 
Lecture, after Evening Service, on the Discoveries of the 
Microscope and Telescope, by R. Lurk, Esq. 

" On Thursday, the Tea Party and Dance. It is never 
without fear that I invite you to dance. Again, I entreat 
you to remember well vjhat you were made in your haptism, 
that so your dance may he kept hlameless. No person can be 
admitted without a ticket. 

"On Friday evening will be held a meeting for Home 
Missions. 

" God bless you all, and keep you from all evil. 

"H. L. DoDDs." 
Commenting on this address, the Clerical Journal re- 
marks : — 

" This is exactly the thing to excite a great deal of talk, 
and to expose Mr. Dodds to much animadversion ; and yet, 
what is there that can be legitimately found fault with? 
People in our parishes will play at foot-ball, and go to dances, 
and why should they not? The question, then, is simply 
this, — Shall the clergyman let his parishioners amuse them- 
selves, while he keeps at a distance, or shall he mix with them 
in their sports, and try to give them a right direction? 
Foot-ball just after Divine Service looks odd, we admit ; but 
do we not go to dinner parties after religious exercises ? and 
are not Bishop's visitations followed by pleasant gatherings 
at the sign of the Bible and Crown^ or the John Bull^ as the 
case may be ? " 

In reply to a letter, Mr. Dodds has kindly sent me the 
following satisfactory statement : — " The endeavour here to 
recover for the Feast of Dedication something of its religious 
character, has succeeded to a very great extent. This is the 
fourth year that we have kept it in this way. The people 
have shown an excellent feeling and willingness to have their 
pleasures purified. I saw nothing to regret in their manner 



77 



of dancing ; but I certainly do think that, to prevent this 
particular amusement from degenerating, and that rapidly, 
into vice, the presence of ' their betters,' and especially of 
the clergy, is absolutely necessary, and also, a good deal of 
preparatory exhortation, in church and out. I should not 
have dared to introduce dancing, but I found it the popular 
amusement^ and I had no alternative but either to condemn 
it as all but sinful, or to go into the midst of it and try to 
keep it free." 

The following extract from Mr. Dodd's address to his 
parishioners, in the year 1857, so exactly represents my own 
sentiments, that I make no apology for inserting it. I also 
agree with him in his objection to mixing up the so-called 
polka, a foreign dance of bad style, with the old English 
contre- dance :" — 

" We are not zealous for dancing, but we think it better 
than to dissuade you from all dancing whatsoever, to con- 
tent ourselves with exhorting and warning you, and that we 
do very earnestly, to dance in no dangerous places, — such 
as beer-shops, — and with none but virtuous company, and 
never but in the presence of your fathers and mothers, and 
then, ourselves to give a dance occasionally, where these 
conditions shall be, if possible, fulfilled. We hope and trust 
that, even in dancing, you will not for one moment forget the 
respect which you owe to yourselves, and to one another, as 
baptised persons, nor the account which you must one day 
give." 

In a letter dated November 16, 1867, Mr. Dodds writes: 
— The feast still goes on here. I cannot write enthusiasti- 
cally about it, but I believe it does good, and gives a great 
deal of pleasure." 

NOTE L, p. 39. 

"iVb very unattractive spot^ Whilst penning these lines, 
I had in my mind the homes of respectable artizans, not the 
wretched abodes of the extreme poor. The following painful 
description is but too applicable to dwelUngs to be found in 
the metropolis, and in all large towns. The writer refers 
specially to seamstresses, but his remarks apply equally to 
journeymen tailors, and others : — 

" The word ' home ' to many of them has no charm, has 
siever been surrounded with comfort; it is but a shifting 



78 



from attic to attic, or from cellar to cellar ; it but conjures 
up unhealthy back rooms, and high dead walls, and breath- 
less courts, which, when the wind reaches, it only stirs the 
sleeping poison, and scatters wider the stench of a thousand 
stagnant sewers. There they sit, in such neighbourhoods as 
Whitechapel and Bethnal Green, and hear of holidays and 
merry seasons, in which they have no share. The Christmas 
bells but ring out to them telling that nights are long and 
coals dear ; and they are compelled to sit and listen to those 
sounds in the darkness, or by the glimmering of a handful 
of fire, for they are too poor to purchase even a candle. 
Spring processions and Whitsun holidays but tell them that 
there are pleasant places somewhere, which people are rush- 
ing out of town to see, though for them the flowers grow not, 
nor have they ever rested under the cooling shadow of a 
green tree. All they know of time is by feeling hungry, and 
struggling against sleep, while ' stitch, stitching,' for such 
establishments as Mr. Mayhew has described in his London 
Labour and the London Poor^ keeping no other record of the 
hours but by the number of stitches they take, or how long 
it will be before they can afford to eat again, while hunger 
is gnawing within, though the insufficient meal is but just 
concluded." — Miller's Picturesque Sketches of London, 

I very much fear that in overcrowding and want of do- 
mestic comfort our village hovels are quite as bad as these 
town abodes. Amongst other influential noblemen who are 
striving to improve the dwellings of the working classes both 
in town and country must be named the Dukes of North- 
umberland and Bedford, the Marquises of Westminster and 
Northampton, the Earls of Pembroke and Cawdor, &c., &c. 
A plan for erecting four room cottages at such a rental as to 
remunerate the landlord (a sine qua non for success) is being 
tried by C. Allen, Esq., at Tenby. 

NOTE M, p. 43. 

For an interesting account of the history of the theatre, 
both in ancient and modern times, see Lecky's History of 
Rationalism in Europe^ vol. ii., pp. 242-353. It seems hardly 
credible that, at one time, " The theatre was unequivocally 
condemned, and all professional actors were pronounced to be 
in a condition of mortal sin, and were, therefore, doomed, if 
they died in their profession, to eternal perdition. This 



79 



frightful proposition was enunciated with the most emphatic 
clearness by countless Bishops and theologians, and was even 
embodied in the canon law, and the rituals of many dioceses. 
The following was the decision of the doctors of the Sorbonne, 
in 1694: — 'Les comediens par leur profession comme elle 
s'exercise, sont en etat de peche mortel.'" Very evil must 
have been the influence of the theatre to have provoked 
such a decision, or very prejudiced the theologians. The 
reason for the sentence is in the words, comme elle s'exercise, 

Mr. Froude tells us that the English Bishops in 1563 at- 
tributed the plague to the theatres. One can hardly help 
smiling at such fanaticism ; yet surely that was not worse 
than attributing a wet summer to the encouragement given 
to Popery, — a remarkable connection of cause and effect 
found out by certain divines five or six years ago. 

NOTE p. 52. 

MUSIC HALLS. 

For an able and interesting article on " Music Halls" and 
their effects, see Meliora^ No. 39, October, 1867. No one 
who reads the evidence of Sir R. Mayne, and others, as 
cited by the writer, can doubt the grossly immoral character 
of these places. 

NOTE O, p. 54. 

FREE LIBRARIES. 

Manchester has the honourable distinction of possessing 
the earliest Free Library in Europe — the Chetham Library, 
founded by Humphrey Chetham, a distinguished merchant 
and loyalist of the reign of Charles I. This library — to- 
gether with a school or hospital for poor and deserving boys 
— is placed in the " Old College," or collegiate buildings 
formerly belonging to the Collegiate, now the Cathedral 
Church, and is an invaluable collection of books. In 1850 
an Act was passed, on the motion of Mr. Ewart, to enable 
two-thirds of the rate-payers of a borough to levy a rate for 
the purpose of providing a library. The city of Manchester 
was the first to adopt Mr. Ewart's Act. The example offered 
by Manchester was followed by Liverpool, where a free 
library, opened in 1 857, was provided by the munificence of 
Sir W. Brown, who, I believe, was indebted to Humphrey 



80 



Chetham's foundation for his own education. Free libraries 
are now to be found in about fifteen of our large towns, in- 
cluding Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Salford, Ox- 
ford, Cambridge, Sheffield, &c., &c — See Article " Public 
Free Libraries," Meliora, No. 39. 

NOTE P, p. 55, 

WORKING men's CLUBS. 

" I am inclined to think that ' Working Men's Clubs,' as 
they are now supported, must have the elements of the school 
rather than of the club. They are in a great measure edu- 
cational, not so much in a direct as in an indirect manner. 
They are none of them, or at least none of them that I have 
heard of, clubs proper. They invite pecuniary assistance 
from the upper classes, and so associate themselves with those 
philanthropical institutions that contemplate the ' elevation 
of the masses.' I should rejoice to see clubs set up and 
supported by working men themselves ; clubs which provided 
for social recreation, and delivered their members from the 
tempting atmosphere of the public house. Their principle, 
too, should be exclusive ; members should be balloted, not 
touted for. A club into which men are urged to enter for 
the sake of their own moral benefit is not a club ' as the 
word is generally understood. It is essentially educational ; 
and if we will detach its usual meaning from the name it 
goes by is evidently calculated to do much good." — Working 
Men; some of their Ways and their Wants. By the Rev. 
Harry Jones, M.A. Macmillan's Magazine,, vol. xiii. p. 241. 

The Rev. E. Boteler Chalmer, of St. Matthias's, Salford, 
has established a Working Men's Club in connection with 
his church. From his interesting pamphlet, entitled, The 
Parson,, the Parish^ and the Working Men,, I extract the fol- 
lowing : — 

" Two of the largest and best cottages in the parish have 
been thrown together to form a club-house ; it is well lighted 
with gas, and substantially furnished, preserving, as much as 
possible, a home character,, so as to be a thoroughly comfort- 
able place of resort. It contains a committee-room, used by 
the parochial clergy as a place of daily call, so that any who 
wish to see them may either come there, or leave a message ; 
a conversation room ; a news-room, liberally supplied with 
local and other papers; an amusement-room, where chess 



81 



and draughts are provided ; and a washing apartment. But 
although the cultivation of knowledge is not the primary- 
object of the club, it is not neglected ; there is a class-room, 
and a library, consisting for the most part of histories, 
travels, and elementary books of science ; also, such works as 
Chambers's Journal^ &c. As a desire arises for instruction in 
any branch of education, it is supplied, and reading, writing 
and singing classes have been formed, with most satisfactory 
results." A handsome and substantial club-house has more 
recently been built. 

In a letter which Mr. Chalmer has since kindly sent me, 
he gives the following gratifying account of the progress of 
the club : — "I am thankful to be able to say that the results 
of our club exceed my most sanguine expectations. 

" Our numbers are increasing weekly, and the only diffi- 
culty we apprehend is lest we should be straitened for room. 

"We have often above eighty men present at the same 
time, and seldom less than fifty. Our penny readings, concerts, 
&c., are also quite crowded when the weather is at all favour- 
able. I wish you could see onr rooms in an evening, I am 
sure you would be greatly pleased. 

Another good, though indirect result, is that many of 
the members have elevated themselves in the social scale, and 
in more than one instance, we have decent, well-conducted 
men, who have served their time in the New Bailey (prison). 
Although I never say anything to the men about religion, or 
attendance at church, yet many of them have voluntarily 
begun to attend my church, and I hope are improved thereby." 

In gratitude to Mr. Chalmer, for his practical concern for 
their welfare, the working men have presented him with a 
secretary of the value of thirty guineas. 

In Tenby, owing to the public spirit of Charles Allen, 
Esq., we have a Working Men's Club and club-house, which 
seems to be the means of gathering together some of our 
most intelligent young men. The diversions appear to be 
pretty much of the same kind as those described by Mr. 
Chalmer. The founder of the Tenby Club is anxious for it 
to be devoted to social recreation, and to be supported by 
the working men themselves. In fact, his sentiments and 
those of the Rev. H. Jones would entirely agree. 

I beg cordially to recommend my readers to peruse the 
second of Plain Papers on the Social Economy of the People^ 



82 



entitled, Labourers^ Clubs and Working Menh Refreshment 
Rooms. 

NOTE Q, p. 61. 

SUNDAY SPORTS. 

"The subject itself, the observance of Sunday," says 
Bishop Short, " is one on which so few directions are contained 
in the Scriptures, that much latitude of opinion might natu- 
rally have been expected with regard to it. Its name, perhaps, 
and its exact duration, are of less practical importance ; but 
the nature of the institution, and the manner in which it 
ought to be observed, are of the greatest consequence. The 
generally received opinion, and that which tallies best with 
the institutions of the Church of England, seems to be, that 
the dedication of one day in seven to the service of God is 
part of the moral law ; that the change of this day from 
Saturday to Sunday is sanctioned by the custom of the 
Apostles ; and that the Christian's liberty will allow of any 
method of keeping this day which answers the command of 
abstaining from work, and of keeping it holy. Amusements, 
in the abstract, contain nothing which need infringe on this 
holiness ; yet it is obvious that some amusements will so far 
unfit the mind for religious duties that they must be totally 
inadmissible ; that to persons situated in different spheres of 
life, a different rule may be applicable ; and that all recrea- 
tions which offend against the rehgious scruples of our brethren 
ought of charity to be avoided. In this case, therefore, it 
seemed an act of great impolicy, to say no worse, to make the 
clergy exhort their parishioners to join in dancing, leaping, 
vaulting, archery, and May-games ; amusements which were 
little likely to promote the spirituality of the Sabbath em- 
ployment, even if we grant they were not actually wrong." — 
Church History^ p. 394. 

Sunday sports have, however, found an advocate in the 
Rev. Archer Gurney, of Paris, in a recent article in The 
Churchman's Family Magazine^ from whose conclusions, how- 
ever, the editor expresses his dissent. The following obser- 
vations show the writer's views : — 

''For multitudes Sunday is the only day when a plunge 
into the country is possible, or visits to the works of art or 
of science. Some who are most deeply persuaded of the 
religious, moral, or social necessity for a seventh day of rest, 



83 



may surely think that a necessary part of such rest is salutary 
recreation. If the ass may be drawn from the ditch, much 
more the people from their murky haunts of gloom. The 
grim excesses of ultra-Sabbatarianism, which would forbid 
even the wandering in the fields, or the looking out of a 
window, or any thought exclusive of religious contemplation, 
and that even to the young and the uneducated, or the over- 
tasked labourer, do not commend themselves to my mind. 
I have heard a man, a gentleman living in the coarsest sin, 
forbid his children to take a walk on the Lord's-day. I have 
heard another man, a tailor, who had left his clothes at the 
pawnbroker's for many months, by reason of his devotion to 
the bottle, boast that he never broke the holy Sabbath by 
walking out of doors on that day. He who blessed the 
lilies and wandered through the fields of waving corn upon 
the Jewish Sabbath, ought not surely to have His name taken 
in vain by being made the patron of more than Jewish 
sternness on the Christian Lord's-day. Our children will 
grow up under happier influences, and not have to connect 
their first notions of religion with imprisonment and ugliness, 
I trust."— Vol. vii., p. 395. 

Some of the Puritan preachers went so far as to maintain 
that to do any work on the Lord's-day is as great a sin as to 
kill a man, or to commit adultery; that to throw a bowl, to 
make a feast, or to dress a wedding dinner on the Lord's- 
day, is as great a sin as for a man to take a knife and cut 

his child's throat Preface to Prideux On the SoMath, 

Calvin, I believe, wished to make Sabbath-breaking a capital 
offence. 

I cannot conclude these remarks on Sunday amusements 
without entering my solemn protest against the popular 
desecration of Good Friday. Whilst I would pay all due 
respect to the consciences of those who think it right to spend 
Sunday strictly, I claim consideration for those who conscien- 
tiously regard the religious obligation of Good Friday. I 
claim as much regard for the annual commemoration of Our 
Lord's Death, as for the annual or weekly commemoration of 
His Resurrection. It is monstrous to forbid trains to run on 
a Sunday, and to fix innumerable pleasure trips on Good 
Friday. As a learned writer piously remarks, This day is 
not of man's institution, but was consecrated by Our Lord 
Jesus Christ when He made it the day of His Most Holy 



84 



Passion. It is impossible that the anniversary of Our Lord's 
sufferings could ever have passed by as a common day in 
those times, when the memory of them was yet so recent, 
and when a daily fellowship in them (Phil. iii. 10, Col. i. 24) 
was so continually before the eyes of Christians in the martyr- 
doms of His faithful servants." — Rev. J. H. Blunt, M.A., 
Annotated Prayer-Book^ p. 100. 



ERRATUM. 

Jage 67, line 8 from top— /or "Lecture by Sir TV. Brown" — read^ ^' On 
Happiness, and its Relation to Work and Knowlege, by Sir John 
Forbes, M.D." 



R. MASON, PRINTER, HIGH STREET, TENBY. 



fflgaorfes tg fi)t same Euti^or- 



AMUSEMENTS, and the Need of Supplying Healthy Recrea- 
tions for the People. Oxford and London : James 
Parker & Co. Tenby : R. Mason. Second Edition. 
1868. Is. 

Notices of the First Edition. 

This Lecture is the production of a man of learning and accomplishments^ 
who is also possessed of a large-hearted philanthropy. — Meliora : a Quarterly 
Review of Social Science. 

We cannot say too much in favour of this little book. The genial, hearty 
spirit which pervades its pages, and the Christian sympathy of the author 
with the pleasures of the labouring population, give a power to his arguments 
that few kindly hearts could resist. — Ecclesiastic and Theologian. 

The diflQ.cult subject is handled in a lively and yet appropriate strain. 
Festivities at special seasons, the Playground, the Park, the Village G-reen, 
the Fair, Cricket, Gardening, Cheap Trips, &c., are discussed, and those 
amusements reprobated which are clearly dangerous. Mr. Huntington 
evidently knows the people and their wants in this respect. — Churchman's 
Companion. 

Mr. Huntington takes men and women as he finds them, respects the 
opinions of those who differ with him, and lays before us some notorious facts 
calculated to set us thinking, at least, upon Ids subject, if they do not bring 
us to his conclusions on it. He has sat down to think, before he has sat 
down to write, and the result is that what he has put on paper is practical. 
He has studied the natural conditions of humanity, and, therefore, what 
follows is kindly and temperately penned. He calls no names. He passes 
in review before us the ordinary amusements of the people, with a few words 
of sensible and hearty comment. He has a good word for good old customs, 
and then speaks his mind about Christmas Festivities, Fairs, Cricket-playing, 
Rifle Volunteering, Racing, Cheap Trips, Gardening, Reading, Theatres, 
Music, Dancing Saloons, and School Tea Parties. — Article, "Muscular 
Christianity," Manchester Eevieic. 

Mr. Huntington takes a large and philosophic view of the subject he is 
about to discuss. He then comes to his main purpose, the amusements of 
the common people, and in a most enlightened manner grapples with the 
social and religious obstacles which are now in the way of our country being 
what it once was, "Merry England." He thinks that "the neglect of the 
few Church holidays still prescribed by the Prayer-book has entailed a great 
loss on all classes," and also with Southey, that "festivals duly observed 
attract men to the civil and religious institutions of the country." — Clei^ical 
Journal. 

This Essay treats a really important topic in a wise and liberal spirit, and 
possesses all the more value as coming from a member of that reverend pro- 
fession in which we too often see a disposition, prompted no doubt by a sense 
of duty, rather to decry than to encourage several of our common popular 
recreations. The leading principle inculcated by Mr. Huntington is, that 
we should rather seek to purify these amusements from their dangerous 
accompaniments than to suppress them altogether. — Manchester Guardian. 

From the summary we gave at the time this lecture was delivered, it would 
be seen that it was eminently practical in its character, and we therefore 
notice, with considerable gratification, its publication in its present form, as 
calculated to be productive of much good. — Wigan Examiner. 

Sound and good, no strait-laced morality, but a genial sympathy with the 
pleasures and pastimes of Merry England. We heartily commend it to the 
attention of our readers. — Ashton Standard. 

The author of this book seems to us very rightly to consider that amuse- 
ments and recreations are an absolute necessity to healthy-bodied and 
healthy-minded people. And he writes like a kind-hearted, hard-working, 
earnest clergyman, who, believing there is a good work to do, sets about doing 



ii 



Works by the same Author, 



it -with all Ms miglit and main. The pamphlet, for it is nothing more, is a 
revised edition of a lecture delivered at Manchester and "Wigan ; but it con- 
tains very much which can only have been the result of careful observation. 
Generally, we may say that Mr. Hl'ntixgtox advocates Concerts for the 
people, Eeading-rooms, Parks, interesting Lectures, and everything which can 
amuse without demoralizing. Of theatres he has a good deal to say, much 
of which is unquestionably true. He acknowledges that, in the abstract, the 
theatre is essentially the place for the amuseiuent of the people ; but he 
points out that, generally speaking, a loose morality pervades that institu- 
tion, which is fatal to its abstract claims. We very"^much fear that there is 
great truth in this. Few of us who ever go to the theatres but come away 
with a sense that all has not been right. The immodest inuendo introduced 
by the imi^udent actor into his spoken part, to catch a laugh from the im- 
moral ones before him. in the house, alarms and disgusts all right-minded 
people. And there are other things also equally, if not more objectionable, 
which may be noticed in almost every theatre in the kingdom. Managers 
are unquestionably very much to blame for not exercising more vigilance in 
the prevention of these things. But we cannot hel]D thinking that if Mr. 
Huntington, and clergymen like him, would but set to work, they might 
soon purify the theatre of much that is haimful in it. 'We heartily hope that 
he may take the hint. We have only space to add that we very much wish 
the i^amphlet had been got up in rather a neater form. It deserves to be 
carefully read by everybody. — Hull Advertizer. 

This httle iDamphlet is a reprint of a lecture read at Manchester and else- 
where by the Eev. George Huntington, M.A., of Manchester Cathedral. 
The Eev. Gentleman has a hearty sympathy with the people, and is willing 
to co-operate with them in. obtaining cheap and healthy — morally healthy — 
recreation. He is not, however, strait-laced. He admits to the full the 
stem necessity for recreation, which shall be in strong contrast with the 
ordinary avocation of the individual. He goes in for out-door amusements 
— such as Cricketing, Boating, Public Parks and Tillage Greens, and the 
revival of old English festivals. Cheap Trips and Gardening. Speaking of 
indoor amusements, the lecturer says a word in favour of judiciously selected 
novels. Admitting the harmlessness of theatrical and dancing entertain- 
ments in the abstract, he, as a lover of his kind, is bound to look at the sub- 
ject in the concrete, and he unequivocally condermis them in consequence of 
their vicious surroundings. His substitute is the cheap concert, and the 
establishment of working-men's clubs, to which men's wives and families 
shall be admitted, and where accom m odation shall be provided for innocent 
indoor recreation. At this time, when the mode of making provision for the 
amusements of the people of HuU is under consideration, the practical sug- 
gestions of Mr. Huntington will be gladly received ; and the brotherly kind- 
ness and charity which abound in them are worthy of all praise. — Sull 
Facket. 



SERMONS for tie HOLY SEASONS of tie CHURCH, 
Oxford and London : James Parker & Co. Second 
Edition. Royal 12nio. 5s. 

Notices of the First Fdition. 

These Sermons are written in a high, sustaiued style of diction, suitable to 
the grandeur of the subjects treated, and with more accuracy of theology than 
we generally meet with. — Ecclesiastic. 

Good sense, and a dignified warmth of expression, characterize these useful 
discourses. — Christian Eememlrancer. 

It would certainly be most neglectful in us did we not notice with special 
recommendation a volume entitled Sermons for the Holy Seasons of the 
Churchf by the Bev. G. Huntington. . . . They are sound, practical, 



Works by the same Author o 



iii 



eloquent, and, well delivered, could not fail of making an impression.— 
Churchman' s Companion. 

Sound and powerful. . . . Such teaching as that contained in this 
admirable volume of Sermons, bringing prominently and irresistibly forward 
the Gospel messenger and the Gospel message, is precisely what is wanted in 
a population, so large a portion of which, as might be expected from long 
years of neglect, has lapsed into Socinianism and other forms of infidelity. — 
Churchman'' s Magazine. 

Animated and practical. — English Churchman. 

"Written in a plain and impressive style, evincing on the part of the 
preacher that deep earnestness of spirit which, more than any ornament of 
language, has power to move the hearer's or the reader's mind. — John Bull. 

In doctrine, these Sermons exemplifj'- the mind of the Church ; in arrange- 
ment, they are lucid and easily followed ; they a,re always free from bad taste 
or artificial working up, while in many instances they even rise to eloquence . 
"We have pleasure in considering this volume a useful addition to the library 
whether^of churchman or layman. — Literary Churchman. 

Mr. iru>-Tix>GTox's Sermons for the Holy Seasons of the Church are forcible 
appeals, sometimes rising into eloquence, addressed to a mixed congi-egation 
of the upper class, on some of the most important points of Christian faith 
and experience. They were preached chiefly in the Cathedral Church of 
Manchester. — The Guardian. 

Sound in doctrine, practical in purpose, displaying no small power and 
eloquence, with an evidentlj^ real zeal for the honour of God and the salva- 
tion of the souls of men, we cannot but hope that these discourses have been 
heard with advantage by the multitude attending divine worship in the vast 

nave of Manchester Cathedral They have sufBicient ornament 

to attract, and suf&cient substance to repay the attention ; sufB.cient appear- 
ance of novelty to create interest ; and beneath that, sufScient of sound old 
truth to be worth the attending to. — Gospel Messenger. 

Devotional in tone, eloquent and forcible in expression, and sound in 
doctrine. "While on the one hand the preacher has " not shunned to declare 
the whole counsel of God," the sacramental and other doctrines of His Holy 
Church, on the other he has fearlessly exposed some of the current self- 
deceptions of this age of shams. — Church of the People. 

"We think it no small excellence in these sound and forcible discourses that 
they are admiiably adapted to the character and circumstances, the prejudices 
and modes of thought, of the majority of the hearers who would be found, we 
may presume, in the congTCgations before whom they were dehvered. — 
Scottish Ecclesiastical Journal. 

These admirable lectures are for all seasons, and they carry an appeal — 
the appeal of one of God's noblest works, an earnest man — ^to the hearts of 
all. They are twenty in number, and it is something to say that, when we 
have read them through, it is with a wish that they were twenty more. Mr. 
HiJNTixGTON in his appeal is so hearty, his whole soul is so evidently com- 
mitted to the labour of love, that we cannot regard these as the offerings of 
an ordinary sermon writer. These Sermons, speaking to every home, are 
nothing more and nothing less than the burning heartfelt words of a good 
and gifted man. — Constitutional Press. 



THE CHURCH'S WORK in our Large Towns, Oxford 
and London: James Parker & Co. 1865. Royal 
12mo. 5s. 

"Your admirable book on the "Work of the Church in Large Towns." — 
JEao^l of Derly. 

Mr. Huntington, in the very painfully interesting and admirable work 
before us, endeavours to answer the question so often asked, How the Church 



iv 



Works by the same Author. 



shall best regain her hold on the masses ? An increase of the Episcopate, the 
better use of existing machinery, lay co-operation, above all, the abolition of 
the pew system, are all insisted on^y our author as means of bringing back 
the wanderers to the fold whose gates have hitherto been too often "closed 
against them. "We thank Mr. Huntington for his research, and for the 
strong and startling facts which will deeply interest the reader, while we 
heartily recommend his work to all engaged, or interested, in Home Mission 
work. The testimony of one who has lived in the midst of Manchester for 
many years cannot but be valuable. — John Bull. 



The AUTOBIOGRAPHY of JOHN BROWN, the Cord- 
wainer; with his Sayings and Doings in Town and 
Country^ showing what part he took in the spread of Church 
Principles among the Working Classes. Edited by A 
Clerical Friend. With two Illustrations. Oxford: 
Mowbray. London: J. Masters; Simpkin, Marshall 
& Co. Second and Cheaper Edition. Price 2s. 

This brings us to a capital little book, the title of which stands at the head 
of this article. . . . Eor lending libraries and book-clubs the book is in- 
valuable ; for suggesting answers to anti-Catholic, sceptical, socialistic, or 
other conceited cavils, and for popularizing Church principles in the best 
sense of the word, we know of nothing more useful. iVe thank Mr. Brown 
heartily for two hours' instruction and amusement, and strongly recommend 
our readers to make themselves acquainted with his powerfal and uncompro- 
mising common sense. — Church Beview. 

In the early days of the Church movement, the reproach used to be that 
it was merely a fashionable affair, which would soon die out among the upper 
classes, would take no hold on the middle stratum of society, and would never 
reach the working people. Xow it is another tune altogether. . . . The 
Clergy may get many useful and valuable hints from this exceedingly agree- 
able httle book, and foes as well as friends may read it with profit, for it is a 
true picture of what is going on in hundreds of parishes in England. — Church 
Times. 

John Brown, a young man whose early life had been passed in an East 
Yorkshire village, migrates to a manufacturing town. . . . Just at the 
critical moment he falls under the influence of a senior workman, and gets 
carried off to a Church where the seats are free and open, the service choral, 
and the clergy energetic, intelligent, and devoted. . . . All goes on well. 
The Church, and its services, and its out-spoken Incumbent, completely win 
the heart of our hero, and John Brown becomes a staunch defender of the 
Church. May such Churches and such working men multiply and flourish ! 
and may all Church Institutes, Parochial Libraries, &c,, buy the book, and 
may their members diligently read it. — Literary Churchman. 

This is an unpretending but deeply interesting little volume, which should 
be read by all who take any interest in the ' present condition of the Church 
of England, and the various efforts which she is making to diffuse the prin- 
eiples of religion amongst the labouring classes. The object the book has in 
view is to exhibit the progress which Church of England and constitutional 
principles have made in the counties of Yorkshii^e and Lancashire. — Man-- 
ehester Courier. 



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18mo. — Cloth, 6s. ; morocco, 8s, 6d. 



Vol. X. 

Vol. XI. 1861, sd. Is. ; cl. ls.8d. 
Vol. XII. 1862, sd. Is.; cl. Is. 8d. 
Vol. XIII. 
Vol. XIV. 

Vol. XV.1865, sd. Is. ; cl. Is. 8d. 
Vol. X\^I. 1866, sd. ls.;cl.ls.8d. 
Vol.XVII. 1867, sd. Is. ; cl. Is. 8d. 



32mo.— Cl., 3s. 6d. ; mor. plain, 

6s. ; best morocco, 8s. 6d. 
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TAIiES, POETRY, &c.,' suitable for Presents, from 
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Short Eeadings for Sunday Scholars. Fcap. 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d. 
Coxe's Christian Ballads, complete. 3s. 
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Tales and Allegories, (from the Parochial Tracts). 3s. 6d. 
Kenneth ; or, The Rear-Guard of the Grand Army. Fourth EditioD, 
Illustrated, 5s. 

For Life : A Story in Two Parts. By Louis Sand. Crown 8vo., 
cloth, 6s, 

Bawn and Twilight. Fcap. 8vo,, 2 vols., cloth, 7s. 
Some Years After. Fcap. 8vo. , 7s. 
Atheline ; or. The Castle by the Sea. 2 vols., 9s. 
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SACRED PRINTS FOR PAROCHIAL USE. 

PRINTED IN SEPIA, WITH ORNAMENTAL BORDERS. 

The Set, One Shilling ; or each^ One Penny. 



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2. St. John Preaching. 

3. The Baptism of Christ. 

4. Jacob's Dream. 

5. The Transfiguration. 

6. The Good Shepherd. 



7. The Tribute-Money. 

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10. Leading to Crucifixion, 

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12. The Return of the Prodigal 



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20 



PRINTS, Sfc.y FOR PAROCHIAL USB. 



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N. B. Upwards of Nine Thousand Sets of these Cottage Pictures have 
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whose "Monthly Paper'^ appeared a series of lessons on Holy Scrip- 
ture especially adapted to this series of Prints, 



A CATECHETICAL SERIES, 

Designed to aid the Clergy and School Teachers in Catechising. 
Uniform in size and type with the " Parochial Tracts.'* 

Thirty-nine Articles. Is. 6d, 
VIIL Catechetical Lessons on the 
Order for Morning and Evening 
Prayer, and the Litany. Is. 

IX. Catechetical Lessons on the 
Miracles of our Lord. Part I. 
Miracles I.— XVII. Is. 

X. Catechetical Lessons on the 
Miracles of our Lord. Part II. 
Miracles XVIII. —XXXVIL 
Is. 

XI. Catechetical Notes on the 
Saints' Days. Is. 

XII. Catechetical Lessons on Mis- 
cellaneous Subjects. Is. 6d. 



I. Catechetical Lessons on the 
Creed. 6d. 

II. Catechetical Lessons on the 
Lord's Prayer. 6d. 

III. Catechetical Lessons on the 
Ten Commandments. 6d. 

IV. Catechetical Lessons on the 
Sacraments. 6d. 

V. Catechetical Lessons on the 
Parables of the New Testament. 
Parti. Parables I.— XXL Is. 

VL Part IL Parables XXII.— 

XXXVIL Is. 
VII. Catechetical Notes on the 



The above Set complete in 2 vols., price 10s. 



Part XIII. Catechetical Lessons on the Book of Common Prayer. 
By the Rev. Dr. Fkancis Hesse v. Author of the " Catechetical 
Notes on the Parables" and on " the Miracles," in the same series. 
Papers I. to X., Introduction, dec. 6d. 

Part XIV. Catechetical Lessons on the Book of Common Prayer. 
Papers XI. to XXXIII., Morning and Evening Prayer. Is. 

Part XV. Catechetical Lessons on the Book of Common Prayer 
Papers XXXIV. to XLIV., Litany, <L^c. Gd. 

Parts XVL, XVIL, XVIII., XIX, XX., XXI. Catechetical Lessons 
on the Book of Common Prayer. Papers XLV. to CIX., Collects, 
Epistles, and Gospels, <kc. Price 6d. each Part, 

21 



CRJEAP BOOKS AND TRACTS 



FOR DEVOTIONAL USE. 

A Kempis, on the Imitation of Christ. The neio uniform Edition. Is. 
Andeewes' (Bp.) Devotions. The neio uniform Edition. Is. 
Cosin's (Bp.) Devotions. The new uniform Edition. Is. 
Adchtstine's (St.) Confessions. The neio uniform Edition. Is. 
Spinckes' Companion ; or, A Manual of Private Devotions, selected 

from Laud, Andrewes, Ken, Hickes, &c. The new uniform 

Edition, is. 

Ken's Manual of Prayers, with a Devotional Exposition of the 
Church Catechism, and Directions for Prayer from the same. 
The neio uniform Edition. Is. 

Sherlock's Self-Examination and Holy Communion. (Forming 
Parts I. and II. of " The Practical Christian.") Is. 

Meditations and Prayers. (Forming Parts III. and 

IV. of "The Practical Christian.") The new uniform Edi- 
tion. Is. 

Sutton's Learn to Live. The new uniform Edition. Is. 

Learn to Die. The neio uniform Edition. Is. 

Ti^TLOB's Holy Living and Dying. '2s. 6d. 
Separately, Is. 6d. each. 

Golden Grove. 9d. 

Life of Christ. Is. 6d. 

Wilson's (Bp.) Sacra Privata, adapted for general use. Is. 
A Portuary for the Laity. Long Primer 24mo., hmp clotb, 2s. 6d. ; 
limp morocco, gilt edges, 5s. 

32mo., limp oloth, 6d. ; cloth, 9d. ; morocco. Is. 6d. 

thick paper, morocco, 2s. 

With Hymns and Introits, limp cloth. Is. 6d. 

Daily Steps towards Heaven. Roan, gilt edges, 2s. 6d, 

In large type. Square 8vo., cloth, 6s. 

Harmony of the Gospels, from Daily Steps. 2d. 

Ridley's Every-Day Companion. The Two Parts in One, price 3s. 

Or separately, Pabt I. Advent to Whitsuntide. 2s. Part II. 

Whitsuntide to Advent. Is. 6d. 
A Daily Text-Book for the use of School-children, &c., sewed, 6d. 
Hours of Prayer ; being Devotions for the Third, Sixth, and Ninth 
Hours. With a Preface. Sixth Edition, Royal 32mo., vellum, is. 
Horse Sacrse. Royal 32mo., cloth, 2s. 6d. 
Sandfoed's Vox Cordis. 2s. 6d. 
Mant's Dial of Prayer. Is. 
The Seven Penitential Psalms, in large type, 2d. 
129. Seven Meditations on the Life of our Lord. 9 for Is. 
164. Meditation on the Day of Judgment. 50 for Is. 
Spiritual Communion. Devotions from the works of Bps. Patrick 

and Wilson. 32mo., 4d. 
Helps to Daily Self-Examination. Id. each. 
57. Meditation. 12 for Is. 
Helps to Prayer and Devotion. Crown 8vo., 8d. 
Cheap Edition, in wrapper, 4d. ; or 25s. per 100. 

PRIVATE PRAYER. 
Mabeiott's Prayers for Morning and Evening. Cloth, Is. 6d. 
— — — Hints for Private Devotion. Fcap., limp cloth, Is. 
22 



FOR FAUOCHIAL USU. 



Books of Private Prayer — continued, 

204. Daily Prayers for the use of those who have to work hard. 
12 for Is. 

Bp. Ken's Manual of Prayers for Winchester Scholars. Best Edit. Is, 

' ' Manual of Prayers, adapted to general use. 6d. 

8. Morning and Evening Prayers for Young Persons. 50 for Is. 

7. Morning, Evening, and Midnight Hymns. 25 for Is. 

143. Morning and Evening Hymns for a Young Person. 50 for Is. 

Morning and Evening Prayers and Hymns for Elder and Younger 

Children. On a Card. Id. each. 
\* These Prayers have been approved and recommended for the private use 
of Children in Church Schools, in the Diocese of Oxford, by the Bishop. 

Gresley's Help to Prayer, in Six Tracts. 12mo., Is. 

105. On Private Prayer. 25 for Is. 

Marriott's Hints on Private Devotion. 12mo., Is. 

Prayers for Persons associated in aid of Missions. Id. each. 

An Itinerary, or Prayers for all that Travel. 6d. 

Devotions for a Time of Eetirement and Prayer for the Clergy. As 
used in the Diocese of Oxford. Fcap. 8vo., cloth, Is. 

Carter (Rev. T. T. ) Clewer Manuals. Part I. Daily Offices of 
Prayer, and other Devotions. 24mo., cloth limp. Is, Part II. 
Hours of Prayer, Litanies, &c. 24mo., cloth limp. Is. Part 
HI. Instructions and Devotions for Adult Baptism and Con- 
firmation. 24mo., cloth limp, Is, Part IV. Repentance. 
24mo., cloth limp, Is. 6d. 

PAMILT PRAYER. 
Bellairs' Prayers for Christian Households. New Edition. Id. 
Liturgia Domestical Services for every Morning and Evening in 

the Week. Third Edition. 18mo., 2s. Or in two Parts, Is. 

each. 

Earl Nelson's Family Prayers. With Responsions and Variations 
for the Different Seasons, for G-eneral Use. Separately, Paper 
Covers, 3d. each ; with the Psalter, cloth, 9d. 
Also, The Calendar of Lessons ; A Course of Reading for the 

Christian Year, for Private or Family Use. Cloth, 6d. 
The Family Prayers, with the Psalter and a Calendar of 
Lessons, for the Use of the Master, Cloth, Is. Fourth 
revised Edition. 
178. Daily Office for the use of Families. 9d. ; cloth, Is. 2d. 
142. Morning and Evening Family Prayers. 18 for 1 s. 
Short Manual of Daily Prayers for every Day in the Week. 6d. 
111. Litany for Ember Weeks. 18 for Is. 
73. On Family Prayer. 50 for Is. 

FOR SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 
99. Prayers for Schoolmasters and Schoolmistresses. 50 for Is. 
Butler's School Prayers for Morning and Evening. 4d. Witk 
Music, 6d. 

Norman's Manual of Prayers for the Use of Schools. Is. 
Heathcote's Prayers for School-children. 2d. 
Prayers in use at Cuddesden College, Fcap. 8vo. Is. 

23 



CKEAP S00K8 AND TRACTS 



THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. 

Cotton's Obsolete Words in the Bible. 6d. 

Jones (of Nayland) on the Figurative Language of Holy Scripture. 
Cloth, Is. 6d. 

The Eight Way of Reading Scripture. 18 for Is. 

A Plain Commentary 9n the Book of Psalms. (Prayer-book Ver- 
sion.) Chiefly grounded on the Fathers ; for the Use of Families. 
2 vols., Fcap. 8vo., cloth, 10s. 6d. 

The Psalter and the Gospel. The Life, Sufferings, and Triumph of 
Our Blessed Lord, revealed in the Book of Psalms. A Selection 
of the most striking Parallel Passages contained in the Psalter 
and the Gospel. Fcap. Svo., cloth, 2s. 

" In this small tract the author has exemplified the fact, that the name 
of David is substituted, throughout the Book of Psalms, for that of our Blessed 
Lord ; and he has, from that rich mine of Christian theology, ' shewn the life, 
sufferings, and triumph of our Blessed Lord, revealed in the Book of Psalms.' " 

Key Words to the Psalter ; being Short Anthems, or Antiphons, 
proper to each Psalm. Eeprinted from the ^' Penny Post. " Svo., 
3d. each. 

A Plain Commentary on the Four Gospels. By the Kev. J. W. 
BuRGON, M.A. A New and Cheaper Edition. In 5 vols., cloth, 
21s, 

Catechetical Lessons on the Parables of the New Testament. Part I. 

Parables I.— XXI. Is. 
Part II. Parables XXII.— XXXVII. Is, 

Catechetical Lessons on the Miracles of Our Lord. Part I. Miracles 
L— XVII. Is, 

Part IL Miracles XVIII.— XXXVII. Is. 

A Harmony of the Gospels, from " Daily Steps." 32mo., 2d. 

Short Notes on St. J ohn's Gospel. Intended for the Use of Teachers 
in Parish Schools, and other Keaders of the English Version. By 
Henry Downing, M.A., Incumbent of St. Mary's, Kingswinford, 
Fcap. 8vo., cloth, 2s. 6d. 

Short Notes on the Acts of the Apostles. Intend© 1 for the Use of 
Teachers in Parish Schools, and other Keaders of the English 
Version. By the same. Fcap, 8vo., cloth, 2s. 
24 



FOB PAnOCmAL USB. 



THE PRAYER-BOOK. 

Catechetical Lessons on tlie Prayer-book. See p. 21 of this Catalogue, 
Catechetical Lessons on Morning and Evening Prayer, and Litany. Is. 
ACompanion to the Prayer-book, compiled from the best sources. Is. 
Abp. Laud on the Liturgy. 16mo., 2s. 
Hake's Holy Matrimony. — Devotional Exercises. 2d. 
Salkeld's Godly Sincerity of the Common Prayer-book Vindi- 
cated. 6d. 

Questions on the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels, throughout the 
Year. Pt. I. Edited by the Rev. T. L. Claughton. Fourth 
Edition, 2s. 6d. 

Pt. II. Fourth Edition. Cloth, 2s. 6d. 

Beaven's Catechism on the Articles. Is. 6d. 

Catechetical Lessons om the Thirty -nine Articles. Sewed, Is. 6d. 

Wenham's Questions on the Collects. Is, 

147. Love your Prayer-book. 25 for Is. 

Ten Reasons wthy I Love my Prayer-book. 12 for 3d. 

THE CATECHISM. 

The Catechist's Manual. With Preface by the Bishop of Oxford. 

Third Edition. Crown 8vo., cloth, 5s. 
An Outhne of the Church Catechism. Royal 8vo. In a Tabular 

form. Is. 

Grandmamma's First Catechism. By a Lady. Fcap,, 4d. 
Nicholson's Exposition of the Catechism of the Church of England. 

A New Edition. Is. 6d. 
Cheere's Church Catechism Explained. Cloth, 2s. 6d. 
Sherlock's Paraphrase of the Church Catechism. 18 mo., 6d. 
Progressive Exercises on the Church Catechism. By the Rev. Henry 
HopwooD, M.A. 
Parts 1, 2, and 3. Analytical Exercises. 2d. each. 
Part 4. Biblical Exercises. 2d. 

The Catechism adapted for the Use of those who have not been 
Baptized. Id. 

Hensley's Steps to Understanding the Church Catechism. Id. each, 

THE LOED's prayer. 

Catechetical Lessons on the Lord's Prayer. 6d. 
176. The Lord's Prayer. 25 for Is. 

154, A Scripture Paraphrg^se on the Lord's Prayer. 25 for Is. 

25 



CSJEAP BOOKS AND TRACTS 



THE CREED. 

1. Exposition of the Apostles' Creed. 9 for Is. 
186. Questions and Answers on the Athanasian Creed. 16 for Is, 
134. Letter from a Clergyman on the Athanasian Creed. 9 for Is. 



126. The Chief Truths: I. The 
Holy Trinity. 25 for Is. 

183. II. Incarnation. 25 for Is. 

184. III. Passion. 25 for Is. 

43. IV. Eesmrection. 25 for Is. 

44. V. Ascension. 25 for Is. 

45. VI. Judgment. 25 for Is. 



217. Vn. Holy Ghost. 18 for Is. 

218. VIII. Holy Catholic Church 
and Communion of Saints. 18 
for Is. 

219. IX. Forgiveness of Sins. 
25 for Is. 

220. X. Life Everlastmg. 18 for Is. 



The Chief Truths, containing the above 10 Tracts, cloth, Is. 
Catechetical Lessons on the Creed. 6d. 



THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 

209. I. Thou shalt have none other Gods but Me. 50 for Is. 

210. II. Thou shalt not make to thyself any Graven Image. oOforls, 

211. III. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord, &c. 50 for Is. 
131. Swear not at all. 50 for Is. 

5. IV. How to spend the Lord's Day. 18 for Is. 
130. Where were you last Sunday ? 25 for Is. 

212. V. Honour thy Father and Mother. 50 for Is. 
166. VI Thou shalt do no Murder. 25 for Is. 

213. VII. Thou shalt not commit Adultery. 50 for Is. 
69. The Unmarried Wife. 18 for Is. 

214. VIIL Thou shalt not Steal. 50 for Is. 

215. IX. Thou shalt not bear False Witness. 50 for Is. 
72. Truth and Falsehood. 12 for Is. 

216. X. Thou shalt not Covet. 50 for Is. 

The Ten Commandments, containing the ahove 14 Tracts, cloth. Is. 
Catechetical Lessons on the Ten Commandments. 6d. 



BAPTISM. 

The Gift of the Holy Ghost in Baptism and Confirmation. 32m o. od. 
Holy Baptism. An Earnest Appeal to the Unbaptized. Sewed, Id. 
200. The Baptismal Service for Infants explained 9 for Is. 
187. Holy Baptism. 9 for Is. 

120. Friendly Words on Infant Baptism. 12 for Is. 
175. Questions about Baptism answered out of Scripture. 18 for Is. 
56. Eegistration and Baptism. 18 for Is. 
185. Why should there be God-Parents ? 25 for Is. 

102. Choice of God-Parents. 50 for Is. 

103. Advice to God-Parents. 25 for Is. 
169. Who should be Sponsors. 50 for Is. 

Baptism, containing ilie above 9 Tracts, bound together in neat cloth. It, 
Vaughan's Doctrine of Baptism, &c. Is. 
The Sacrament of Baptism (Parochial Papers, No. XI.) Is. 
26 



FOB. PAMOCHIAL USB. 



CONFIRMATION. 

190. The Confirmation Service explained. 12 for is. 

28. Questions for Confirmation. First Series. 12 for Is. 

29. Ditto. Second Series. 12 for Is. 

30. Preparation for Confirmation. 25 for Is. 

100. A Few Words before Confirmation. 25 for Is. 

91. Hints for the Day of Confirmation, 50 for Is. 
158. Catechism on Confirmation. 18 for Is. 

27. A Few Words after Confirmation. 12 for Is. 
Confirmation, comprising the above 8 Tracts, in hrigJit cloth, Is. 
Questions before Confirmation. 50 for Is. 

Hopwood's Order of Confirmation, illustrated. Third Edition. 

Cloth, 2s. 6d. 
Confirmation (Parochial Papers, No. XII. ) Is. 
Nugee's Instructions on Confirmation. 18mo., Is. 
Confirmation according to Scripture. 3d. 
Notes on Confirmation. By a Priest. Sewed, 6d. 
Short Catechism on Baptismal Vow and Confirmation. 2d. 
Arden's Lectures on Confirmation. Is. 

Vaughan's Doctrine of Baptism and Laying on of Hands. Is. 
Lowndes' Preparation for Confirmation. l6mo., cloth, Is. 6d. 
Karslake's Manual for those about to be Confirmed. Post 8vo., 
sewed, Is, ; limp cloth, Is. 6d. 

THE LOHD'S SUPPER. 

193. The Lord's Supper. 9 for Is. 

76. Plain Speaking to Non-Communicants. 18 for Is. 
106. One Word More to Almost Christians. 25 for Is. 

77. The Lord's Supper the Christian's Privilege. 25 for Is. 
189. Have you ceased to Communicate ? 18 for Is. 

133. Am I fit to receive the Lord's Supper ? 25 for Is. 

196. Have you communicated since your Confirmation ? 18 for Is. 

192. A Persuasive to frequent Communion. 18 for Is, 

206. Devotions preparatory to the Lord's Supper. 18 for Is. 

The Lord's Supper, comprising the above 9 Tracts, bound in cloth, U. 

What is Unworthy Receiving ? 1 Cor. xi. 29. Id. 

Claughton's Duty of Preparing for the Lord's Supper. Id. j 

Catechetical Lessons on the Sacraments. 6d. 

Spiritual Communion, (from Patrick and Wilson), 4d. 

Lake's Ofiicium Eucharisticum. New Edit. Cloth, red edges, Is. 6d. 

The Old Week's Preparation. Cloth, 2s. 

Eucharistica. Cloth, 2s. 6d. Cheap Edition, limp, Is. 

Bp. Wilson on the Lord's Supper, Cloth, Is. 

An Edition with Rubrics, &c., cloth, 2s. 

Devotions for Holy Communion from Horst. 18mo. Is. 

27 



CSBAP SOOKS AND TRACTS 



DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH. 

Wordsworth's Credenda : A Summary of the Apostles' Creed. 4d. 

Keble's Selections from Hooker. 18mo., Is. 6d. 

Vincent of Lerins against Heresy. 18mo._, Is. 6d. 

Pte's Two Lectures on the Holy Catholic Church. 12mo., Is. 6d. 

J ones' (of Nayland) Tracts on the Church ; containing, An Essay on 
the Chiu-ch, A Short View of the argument between the Church 
of England and the Dissenters, The Churchman's Catechism, 
On Private Judgment, A Private Admonition to the Churchman, 
The House of God the House of Prayer. Cloth, Is. 6d. 

Jones' Essay on the Church. Fcap. 8vo., Is. 

A Plain Argument for the Church, on a card. Id. 

124. A Scripture Catechism on the Church. 4d. each. 

155. A Catechism concerning the Church. 9 for Is. 

197. Are all Apostles ? or, The Christian Ministry. 25 for Is. 

Ten Reasons why I Love my Church. 12 for 3d. 

A few Plain Testimonies in favour of Episcopacy. 4 pp., 8vo., IJd. 

THE SEASONS OF THE CHURCH. 

21. How to spend Advent. 50 for Is. 

22. How to keep Christmas. 25 for Is. 

23. New Year's Eve. 18 for Is. 

52. How to keep Lent. 18 for Is. 

53. Ken's Advice during Lent. 25 for Is. 
126. Tract for Holy Week. 9 for Is. 

168. Tract for Good Friday. 18 for Is. 
163. How to keep Easter. 25 for Is. 

59. Neglect of Ascension- Day. 60 for Is. 
174. How to keep Whitsuntide. 50 for Is. 
Catechetical Notes on the Saints' Days. Is. 
A Simple Catechism on the Seasons of the Church, explained by 

the History of the New Testament. For the use of Children in 

Schools. In wrapper, price 3d., or 2s. 6d. per dozen. 
The Tracts for the Christian Seasons. A Series of sound reh- 

gious Tracts, following the order of the Sundays and Holy-days 

throughout the year. 4 vols., 12s. 
A Second Series of the above under the same editor, and chiefly by 

the same writers. 4 vols., 10s. 

A Third Series of the above, vide p. 32. Edited by the Rev. J. R. 
Woodford. 4 vols., cloth, 14s. 

Short Sermons for Family Reading, following the Course of the 
Christian Seasons. In Sixpenny Parts ; or the Set complete, con- 
taining Ninety Sermons, 2 vols., Fcap. 8vo., cloth, 8s, 

Second Series. 2 vols., cloth, 8s. 

28 



FOB PABOCSIAL USD. 



PUBLIC WORSHIP. 

Caparn*s Meditations in Church before Divine Service. Sewed, 6d. 
Eeasons for Staying Away from Church. Eeprinted from the " Penny 

Post." 8vo. 3d. per dozen. 
The Congregation; its Duties, (Parochial Papers, No. X.) Is. 
The Fabric of the Church, (Parochial Papers, No. VIII.) Is. 
Reverence in Church. On a Card. 3d, 
203. On Common Prayer. 60 for Is. 

13. Be in Time for Church. 25 for Is. 

65. " No Things to go in. " 25 for Is. 
207. The Gate of the Lord's House. 9 for Is. 
108. What do we go to Church for ? 12 for Is. 

20. How to behave in Church. 25 for Is. 
181. Conduct in Church. 18 for Is. 

67. On saying Responses in Church. 25 for Is. 

68. Do you Sing in Church ? 25 for Is. 
145. Daily Common Prayer. 18 for Is. 

3. Do you ever Pray ? 60 for Is. 

61, No Kneeling, no Praying. 18 for Is. 
137. A Word to the Deaf about coming to Church. 60 for Is, 

71. Church or Market. 25 for Is. 

65. Beauty of Churches. 25 for Is. 
153. Doors or Open Seats. 12 for Is. 

47. Plain Hints to Bell-Ringers. 25 for Is. 
113. Church Choirs. 25 for Is. 
150 Plain Hints to a Parish Clerk. 25 for Is. 
151. Plain Hints to Sextons. 50 for Is. 

179. Plain Hints to an Overseer or Guardian of the Poor. 50 for Is, 
199. Plain Hints to a Churchwarden. 18 for Is. 



PENITENTIARY TRACTS, &c. 

Reports of the Wantage Penitentiary. 6d. each. 
Ley's Prayers for Penitents. Cloth, Is. 6d. 



Tracts for Female Penitents. 
Part I. 25 for Is. 
18 for Is. 
9 for Is. 
9 for Is. 
9 for Is. 



127. 



128. Part II. 
182. Part III 
191. Part IV. 
198. Part V. 



208. Part VI. 12 for Is. 
208*. Part VII. 12 for Is. 
167. Devotions for Penitents. 18 
for Is. 

161. Comfort to the Peuitent. 25 

for Is. 



The above in 1 vol., limp cloth, Is. 6d. 



29 



CSBAP BOOKS AND TRACTS 



SICKNESS AND AiTLICTION. 

Brett's Thoughts during Sickness. Cloth, 2s. 6d. 
Aeden's Scripture Breviates. Cloth, 2s. 
Le Mesueiee's Prayers for the Sick, 3s. 

15. Sudden Death. 60 for Is. 
121. Make your Will before you are 111. 50 for Is. 

32. Devotions por the Sick. Part I. Prayer for Patience. 12 
for Is. 

33. Pt. II. Litanies for the Sick. 12 for Is. 

34. Pt. III. Self-Examination. 12 for Is. 
' 36. Pt. IV. Confession. 18 for Is. 

36. Pt. V. Prayers for various occasions. 12 for Is. 

37. Pt. VI. Prayers for Daily Use during a long Sickness. 12 

for Is. 

38. Pt. VII. Devotions for Friends of the Sick. 12 for Is. 

39. Pt. VIII. Ditto. — When there appears but small Hope of 

Recovery. 25 for Is. 

40. Pt. IX. Thanksgiving on the Abatement of Pain. 12 for Is. 

41. Pt. X. Devotions for Women "Labouring with Child." 12 

for Is. 

42. Pt. XI. During time of Cholera, or any other general Sick- 

ness. 25 for Is. 

75. Hints for the Sick. Part I. 12 for Is. 
116. Ditto. Parts IL and III. 9 for Is. 

31. Friendly Advice to the Sick. 12 for Is. 

96. Scripture Headings during Sickness. 18 for Is. 
112. Are you better for your Sickness ? 25 for Is. 

94. Will you give Thanks for your Recovery? 25 for Is. 
107. Form of Thanks for Recovery. 50 for Is. 

64. Devotions for the Desolate. 50 for Is. 
172. Devotions for Widows. 60 for Is. 

70. Thoughts of Christian Comfort for the Blind. 18 for Is. 
136. Patience in Affliction. 18 for Is. 

14. To Mourners. 12 for Is. 
Devotions for the Sick, containing a selection of the above Tracts. 
Fcap., cloth, 2s. 6d. 

30 



FOR PAROCMIAL USH. 



MISCELLANEOUS.. 

Acland's Precautious against Cholera. 30 for Is. 

Health, Work, and Play. 6d. 

A Parting Gift for Young Women leaving School for Service. 4d. 
The Prevailing Sin of Country Parishes. |d. each. 
No Nearer to Heaven. Id. 

140. A Word in due Season to the Parents of my Flock. 18 for Is. 

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PERIODICALS. 



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82 ^; 



CONTENTS. Vll 

Pag-e 

Anatomical" Exhibitions condemned 58 

Sunday Sports— Not thought wrong on the Continent, but opposed to 

the religious feelings of English People— ^ooA; of Sports 59-61 

Religious Men should countenance Amusements — Bible not against 
Amusements — Upper Classes ought to mix with Lower — Conclusion 
—Opinion of Dr. Guthrie 60«4 



APPENDIX. 

Note Value of Recreations, and duty of the Clergy to assist in 
promoting them— Dr. Hook, Speech in Manchester — Unreason- 
ableness of Objections— W. E. Lecky, M.A., History of national- 
ism in Europe — Rev. O. W. Birkett, Lecture on the Improvement 



of the Condition of the Working Classes... 65, 6 

Note B. — Mischief of very prolonged Mental Exercise — Sir J. Eorbes, 
M.D., Lecture on Happiness ^ and its Relations to Work and 

Knowledge 66,7 

Note C. — ^Amusements practised by different Celebrated Men — Isaac 

Disraeli, Curiosities of Literature 67 

Note D. — ^Bad Effects of constant Sedentary Occupation — Rev. Charles 
Kingsley, Miscellanies — Instances of Remarkable Men who have 
not been subjected to severe and protracted Study — Newton, Bacon, 
Locke, Butler, &c. — Rev. H. now Archdeacon Fearon,- Mental 



Vigour : its Attainment impeded by Errors in Education 67-70 

Note E. — Revival of Athletic Exercises — J. M. Ludlow and Lloyd 

Jones, Progress of the Working Classes 70 

Note F. — Cruel Sports discontinued from the gradual elevation of the 



Moral Standard — W. E. Lecky, History of nationalism in Europe 71 
Note G. — Improvement in Harvest Festivities — Rev. E. Jackson, 
Harvest Thanksgivings and their Accompanying Festivals — ^Rev. 



J. Cuppage, Harvest Increase the Gift of God 71 

Note H. — The Gout — Rev. J. Eccleston, Introduction to English 

Antiquities 72 

Note /.—Public Playgrounds— Mr. Goodwin, Editor of " The Builder," 

Toivn Swamps and Social Bridges 72-4 



Viii CONTENTS. 



Note K. — Fairs — Note by the Author — Degrading character of Statute 
Fairs — ^Archdeacon Bickersteth, Charge — Feasts of Dedication — 
Rev. H. L. Dodds, Letter to his ParisMo7iers — Editor of " Clerical 
Journal" — Letter of the Rev. H. L. Dodds to the Author 75-7 

Note L. — Miserable Condition of the Cottages of the Poor — Miller^s 
Picturesque Sketches of London — ^Note by Author on the Efforts 
of the Nobility and Gentry to Improve the Dwellings of the 
"Working Classes 78 

Note j5f .— The Theatre— Condemnation of the Stage, and Denunciation 
of Actors as being in a state of Mortal Sin — "W. E. Lecky, M.A., 
History of Rationalism in Europe — ^English Bishops attributing 
the Plague to the Theatre— Anthony Froude, History of England 79 

Note N — ^Music Halls : their Evils — Meliora 79 

Note 0. — ^Free Libraries — Manchester the first City in Europe to pos- 
sess one — Note by Author — Meliora^ Article, " Public Libraries" 80 

Note P. — ^Working Men's Clubs — Rev. Harry Jones, M.A., Article in 
Macmillan's Magazine — Rev. E. Boteler Chalmer, The Parson, 
the Parish, and the Working Men — ^Letter to Author — ^Note by 



Author on Tenby "Working Men's Club 80-2 

Note Q. — Sunday Sports — Bishop Short, of St. Asaph, Church History 
— ^Rev. Archer Gumey, Article in Churchman^ s Family Maga- 
siwe— Prideux On the Sabbath, &c.— Note by the Author on the 
Desecration of Good Friday 82-4 



